Bin Battle II ....

Following on from a recent post, now residents in Huddersfield have taken up t' gauntlet with the local refuse collection company.

After a recent strike by the bin men when no refuse was collected from their street, the residents in a "spur of the moment" action, formed a human ring round the refuse truck after the bin operatives refused to take the old rubbish. The rubbish had been in situ since the strike, and had not been collected and the binmen were going to leave about eight sacks of rubbish, until the residents put a stop to their getaway.

It is disheartening for normal council tax payer to be forced into this sort of action, just to get services that they are paying and have paid for. The councils line given by an un-named spokesman, said "This minor incident was quickly resolved in line with what we would expect of our collection crews. "
"All the refuse was collected. We always respond to any calls we receive from householders."

This blatantly is not true otherwise why were these residents forced to take matters into their own hands. The councils action for me is akin to the governments policy of "move along there, nothing to see".

Well done the residents of Huddersfield, the fight back just might be starting in earnest.

Bin battle won? So onto the war...

In today's Express, a piece about "bin" victor Roger Houlker, a 56 year old solicitor from Congleton in Cheshire caught my eye.

It seems that the solicitor took his local council to the Local Government ombudsman, for their failure to either issue his family with a second wheelie bin, or collect extra bags of rubbish he left beside his full bin.

The ombudsman Anne Seex, ruled in his favour and found the council guilty of "maladministration with injustice", she also voiced her concerns that though the council had the right to limit the number of bins it issued, she had reservations about whether the councils binmen could refuse to take extra bags.

Could it be at last we are seeing a resurgence of common sense in councils dealings with its customers, ie, the taxpayers? For far too long it appears that all councils actions have been contrary to what the taxpayers wanted or needed or even expected.

One small battle won in the war of the bins, which council will be next to fall!

Thank you Mr Houlker for refusing to lie down and take the proverbial rogering that councils wish to inflict on us all, well done that man!