Brent Council's forward planning for the July 21st Cabinet includes a proposal to introduce weekly collection of dry recyclables (currently they are fortnighly and alternate with grey bin residual waste collections) and a charge for collecting green waste.
Extract:
Original Public Realm Contract Officer's report HERE
Extract:
To approve changes to the recycling service to introduce weekly collections for dry recyclables and a charge for the collection of green waste, and to agree the service changes to accommodate this new approach.The Council's new long-term contract with Veolia is due to be fully implemented by the end of the summer. Weekly collections and charges for green waste were not publicly discussed during the procurement process.
Original Public Realm Contract Officer's report HERE
Cllr Keith Perrin, Lead for Environment may wish to discuss this idea with his predecessor Cllr Roxanne Mashari as two heads are better than one. I would suggest they think about the potential consequences of charging people for their green waste. They may wish to consider how this might impact upon their Manifesto Contract of creating a greener future for the Children of Brent.
ReplyDeleteIn a recent Brent Council Report they have already acknowledged the impact that welfare reforms are having on the electorate of Brent (contributing to the increase in homeless by 1/3). People are increasingly struggling, as evidenced by the upturn in numbers visiting the food banks. If people have the choice between food & electricity or paying for their green waste to be taken away what do they think the answer will be?
This is purely a short-term thinking as it will do little to foster good practices for the children of Brent. This undermines the previous actions taken by the council of supplying each resident with a small green bin, a medium green bin and then the large green bin. The aim of this was to make it easier for people to think about green waste and rally home the point about sustainable practice and contribute towards carbon reduction. Yet now, the majority of this kitchen waste will end up in landfill.
An additional consequence of this is that it will increase ‘anti-social’ behaviour as defined by the consultation paper on the stealth tax that Brent Labour wish to introduce on tenants. Within the consultation paperwork they define ‘untidy gardens’ as anti-social behaviour and wish to solve this through ‘licensing’ landlords. This is despite the same document reporting that licensing for Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) has been ineffective (thus failed). At an executive meeting Councillor Butt admitted that the cost to Landlords is likely to be passed on to tenants which will further increase the financial burden upon people that are already struggling in our community.
Nice work Brent Labour in delivering policy that increases social inequality.
Scott Bartle
@mapesburygreen
I will be telling them what to do with the green bin, and going back to what we did before [composting].
ReplyDeleteWell-said! We can all become much more self-sufficient, even if we live on an estate and don't have individual gardens. Leaf-mould can be made inside a black plastic bin-bag, grass-cuttings piled in a corner and left to rot, and kitchen-waste fed to the amazing worms in - ideally - a home-made wormery. We must all learn to shake ourselves out of the dependency our politicians foist on us, and take matters into our own hands.
ReplyDeleteI also advocate composting (home, allotment and school) but there is a problem with thick branches etc and I fear these will probably end up being burnt, which is not good for clean air, or they will be dumped at the roadside. The paving over of front gardens is contributing much of this garden waste in the north of the borough as builders dig up mature trees and shrubs.
DeleteFair point. Dealing with thick branches etc is something council needs to be forced to address - encourage composting but take away the heavy-duty garden-waste. The paving over of front gardens is a dire lose, lose situation: loss of pollution-reducing trees/biodiversity and increased risk of flooding. Has Brent any plans to curb this anti-social practice?
Delete'About 12,000 minor developments (such as householders paving their gardens, leading to increased risk of surface flooding) are not seen by the Environment Agency. That adds up to a significant pattern' - Krebs' report, Committee on Climate Change (CCC), published today, 9 July:
Deletehttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/09/uk-flood-defences-committee-on-climate-change?CMP=twt_gu
So when will Brent act?
This is ridiculous. A £40 charge for getting less than half a green bin service.....
DeleteMaybe we could take the policy a little further; how about local residents paying a little extra each year to ensure a policeman patrols past their home twice a day or gets the pot holes in their road fixed properly.
Oh and what a lovely new building to house the council.... Maybe they should have thought to lease it privately to a private company. That company would have employees, bringing people into the area who then would spend on lunches and shopping in that woefully small and uncovered new shopping centre, and also get a boost in business rates.....
Unfortunately, I fear this is a direct consequence of our own laziness in blindly following national policies when voting at local elections; councilors who are attached to a main party by very definition lack any clear vision of their own. "Good Grief" as Charley Brown always used to say.
This is outrageous. What is the purpose of the extortinate council tax? They collect enough from this. Maybe they need to manage the money more effectively & charging residents for things like this will only alienate voters & more importantly lead to more incidents of fly tipping.
ReplyDeleteThis is another bad decision by Councillors out of touch with reality. The green bin was forced on to residents & if ther is now going to be a charge for it, then maybe residents need to vote with their feet & tell the council to take them back.