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Thieving Councils to Scrap Refuse Collections

Story.

An absolute disgrace, as the Tories rightly point out, for most people its the only thing they actually get for their rip-off council tax. Strangely enough, paying the £200k salaries of the council executives doesn't rate highly in their estimations.

Either councils should do their job properly or council tax should be halved. All councils are staffed by robbing bastards as it is, without giving them even more reason to be work-shy whilst demanding disgusting tax rises.

Time to sack the lot of em.
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps it might encourage some people to be less wasteful?

    I don't agree with the proposals but I know I personally don't require a weekly collection as our bin is never more than half full. The people next door (there are only two adults in that household too) have a bin full and extra bags every week and it makes me wonder how they create so much waste!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm hoping against hope that they don't start doing that here. There are 8 people in this house and my bin is full to the brim every week, even with recycling and what have you. God alone knows what the hell we'll do if they go to fortnightly collections.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's a fucking disgrace. In many other countries they get a daily collection- and yet their local taxes and charges are lower.

    Rip off Britain continues to reign supreme.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A bin is designed for four people for one week, so single households shouldn't fill it every week. But we fill it every two weeks and we recycle most things- if we had any children at all we'd have bags overflowing.

    It's a ridiculous idea done more for money-saving and penny-pinching than anything else.

    If you get half a service you should get your tax bill halved.

    Aladdin, of course local authorities in other countries are cheaper- their councils aren't staffed by management who earn six-figure salaries whilst doing six-minute weeks.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I havent a massive problem with this, if it is managed properly.

    My parents have a two weekly collection, but they are given proper bins (unlike us in London) and they are given good recycling collections too.

    Just cutting the collections without helping people cut down waste is stupid.

    Kermit; you could cut the council tax in half and frankly a lot of councils wouldnt really notice, they get 75% of their funding from central government.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If they provided bigger bins then I wouldn't have a problem. We have a good recycling system in Newcastle and we recycle most things- our bin doesn't get that full but our recycling box is normally full of newspapers and plastic bottles and glass.

    But we have a small household and could get away with it. If we had children, especially young children, then we probably couldn't. A lot of things cannot be recycled- you can't recycle my cat's litter, for instance.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    A lot of things cannot be recycled- you can't recycle my cat's litter, for instance.

    Let it poop in other people's gardens ;)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We only get a plastic box for our recyle bin - the other council next door gives them actual bins! And they only get emptied fortnightly. They should make it easier to recycle.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We only get a box too, its perfectly OK. It's easy enough to recycle providing the council takes everything. My mum gets a big bin but thewy only take paper.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Boxes aren't so good for families though. Depends on what the council actually does.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    All councils are staffed by robbing bastards as it is,

    I actually take offense to that statement. I work for a local government and work very hard. If you like I can give you a complete breakdown of all the work I have done this week.

    We have been running a fortnightly collection here for over a year and after the settling in period were we couldn't remember which collection it was (Refuse or recycle) and which items ar recyclable I think it works very well.

    As someone already stated if it's managed correctly then no reason why it can't work. We are a family with 3 kids and we have no overflowing bins. On the odd occasion were we have maybe had a party or something we have an abundance of rubbish but nothing a trip to the local skip can't solve.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wonder if having the rubbish picked up by private contractors instead of by a council-owned fleet with council employees might have something to do with exhorbitant costs of refuse collection in this country... :chin:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well we get fortnightly collections and it is not usually a problem for us, but there is only two adults and two cats in my household and by the end of the two weeks the bin is always full. I expect a larger family would find it more difficult!

    Having said that, we recycle more now than we ever have done in the past and unlike lots of councils we have been provided with a recycling wheelie bin rather than a box, we used to have a box at our last house but it was too small and we were always running out of space, so at least with the wheelie bin we can fit all our plastic bottles, newspapers, paper, cans etc into that and not run out of space.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    £15 a roll of binbags in canterbury:mad:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi38 wrote: »
    £15 a roll of binbags in canterbury:mad:
    But how many are there in a roll? I mean we pay in excess of £2.50 for a roll of 20 at Tesco. I had a quick search online and refuse sacks being sold for 15quid had about 200 liners so actually I don't think that is unreasonable and actually works out cheaper than buying them from Tesco.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    30 per roll. They won't take black ones.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I actually take offense to that statement. I work for a local government and work very hard. If you like I can give you a complete breakdown of all the work I have done this week.

    My personal opinion is that 95% of work undertaken by Local Authorities doesn't need to be done and, indeed, shouldn't be done.

    Council Tax is a complete waste of money, and it always has been.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi38 wrote: »
    £15 a roll of binbags in canterbury:mad:

    Where the fuck are you buying them from then? Certainly not ASDA...

    And aren't you using Wheelie Bins like the rest of the council area? So why buy bin bags at all...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    My personal opinion is that 95% of work undertaken by Local Authorities doesn't need to be done and, indeed, shouldn't be done.

    Council Tax is a complete waste of money, and it always has been.

    Do you know what Local Authorities do?

    What's your solution?

    Outsource waste management, landscaping, roads, graveyard upkeep, schools (from teaching through to cleaning), social work, housing (rental, repairs, etc..), planning applications and building standards, libraries, births/deaths/marriages (the list goes on) to private companies?

    Sure there are people (as in any organisation) who are coining in overearned salaries but do you think by privatising everything it will cost less?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not forgetting that Council Tax also pays for Police/Fire services...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Where the fuck are you buying them from then? Certainly not ASDA...

    And aren't you using Wheelie Bins like the rest of the council area? So why buy bin bags at all...

    the councils waste contractor. they will only take a certain type.

    5 students and a fortnightly wheeliebin...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi38 wrote: »
    the councils waste contractor. they will only take a certain type.

    5 students and a fortnightly wheeliebin...


    Perfect example as why "outsourcing" screws people over.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi, is that for the recycling bags in canterbury that you are paying money, or the normal bins?

    I lived in canterbury last year, which is when they brought in the fortnightly collection. We got the specified recycling bags for free from the tip or the council offices (if the ones they dropped by your door got nicked), and normal rubbish needed to be put in a canterbury council wheelie bin. Has this changed then?

    I will say that larger households were given larger wheelie bins. It worked well for us. There were three students in our house, and becasue of the new scheme we recycled tons more.We had about 4 bags of recycling every other week, and maybe only 2/3 normal bags. I will agree however that if they aren't collecting once a week why are we still payin them the same.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I will agree however that if they aren't collecting once a week why are we still payin them the same.

    But they are collecting once a week!!

    Once for recycle and then next week for general waste.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perfect example as why "outsourcing" screws people over.
    Of course.

    It's also more expensive for all of us.

    The wonders of privatisation never cease.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    minimi38 wrote: »
    the councils waste contractor. they will only take a certain type.

    5 students and a fortnightly wheeliebin...

    House of five (one a baby so plenty of nappies!), small whellie bin and we're in the same town.

    Seriously, I think you need to look at what you are chucking out...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote: »
    All councils are staffed by robbing bastards
    I actually take offense to that statement. I work for a local government and work very hard. If you like I can give you a complete breakdown of all the work I have done this week.

    Why you take offense to a factual statement is unclear to me.

    (How hard you work doesn`t seem relevant).

    At your next staff get together with the big cheeses, is there any chance you would suggest that all the services you provide are offered on a voluntary(the ability to refuse the "offer") basis to potential customers ?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't see what all the fuss is about. At home (under Daventry District Council/Northamptonshire County Council) we have a fortnightly bin collectiong.
    One week it is black bins, which is general waste, and then on the alternate week we have a brown dustbin collection, which is another bin the same size for garden waste and vegetable peelings etc.

    Recycling is collected every week, and there are two boxes - a red one with a lid for paper and clothing (but not the Yellow Pages!) and a blue one for tins, bottles, glass and plastic. You are asked to make sure it's washed up recycling but that's no more effort than normal washing up really.

    It was a bit of a pain to start with, until people got used to it but it's fine now. The bins might smell a bit more in the heat of the summer but we never have any meat waste in ours so it was never a problem. The brown bin is a godsend because you can put all the cleanings out from the rabbit cages in it.

    Miffy, do you have a normal sized bin? I think if you have 6+ people living in your household you can apply for a bigger dustbin. We've got one and it's better than the smaller one.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perfect example as why "outsourcing" screws people over.

    council policy, actually.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    It's a fucking disgrace. In many other countries they get a daily collection- and yet their local taxes and charges are lower.

    Rip off Britain continues to reign supreme.

    I blame landfill tax. Don't you just yearn for the days when councils could just dump rubbish everywhere....

    You also can't compare local authorities from country to country. Different councils in different countries have different role (in the UK for example education is local authority funded which isn't true in other countries) and the amount you pay locally only pays for about 25% of the local authority - national tax pays the rest.
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