(2026 Edit - This post is from the archive; it was first published on 2nd October 2013 at 1500. Things, views and events may have changed since then.)
Joined up thinking........
Three weeks ago, give or take a day, a letter from the local
borough council arrived on the doormat of Shaw Towers, well ok I’ll be honest
Shaw Towers is more Shaw Hovel than towers, being a poky one bedroomed
apartment on the outskirts of the historic Sussex seaside town I now reside. However, the size
of my room, which I call home, is not the issue here – unless you’re planning on
popping round for tea and a biscuit that is, which you’re welcome to do so, but please bring
your own chair as I've only got one!
So getting back to the point, a mailing from the local
authority arrived informing me that a new recycling box for items of used glass
and a big black Velcro-sealing seagull-proof rubbish sack would soon be clonking
along the road in my direction. Currently, I have a big green rubbish bin and a supply of pink sacks for
recycling paper, tins and cardboard, which the local council collect on a
weekly basis. As a keen recycler for many years, I was excited about the change;
as of now I had to walk half a mile to recycle glass and metal as these were
not currently collected in the pink sacks by the council, now though,
according to the mailout, these would also be picked up from outside my door.
Hurrah for me but an even louder hurrah for the environment.
Last Saturday I got a letter from the very same authority, complete
with leaflets letting me know my collection day and answering any questions I
might have about my new refuse and recycling methods. Forlornly, the letter accompanying
these leaflets (printed with non-biodegradable ink) informed me that ‘Unfortunately
this does not apply to your area’ because ‘there is no space for the black
boxes or sacks to be safely put out for collection’. I wondered how much space was needed, so I
checked the size of the boxes, then measured the area out the front of the apartments
(off the public highway) and found there was enough room for nineteen such
boxes, more if said boxes were stacked on top of each other. I couldn’t get an
accurate measurement for the sacks, so a similar comparison could not be made;
however, in addition to the nineteen black boxes there is also space for five
big wheelie bins, so I’m not sure where or how the council ‘made its careful
assessment’ of my area, but its mechanisms seem to be fundamentally flawed.
Also on Saturday and completely separate from the letter and
leaflets came a printed card (not on recycled paper) from the local council
informing me that ‘If you’ve got this card you’ll be getting a black recycling
box and seagull-proof rubbish sack shortly’. Hmm, so I’m rather mucking fuddled! Am I getting a
box or am I not? A call to the council
could answer the question, or so I thought. After waiting an age to get through
and giving my details and location, the lady on the helpline couldn’t tell me
one way or the other because - guess what? She also had ‘conflicting information’, so who
knows! Joined-up thinking seems to be in
short supply at the local council! They seem happy to send out lots of bright,
colourful expensively produced literature regarding conflicting recycling information,
yet bemoan on a regular basis the lack of funds and cuts in government grants
forcing a reduction in overall spending, yet one thing they are not muddled
about, that’s collecting my council tax on time, nope they’ve got that all
sorted, a day late and a warning is sent, three days late and the bailiffs hae been ordered!
© 2013 Copyright to Jason Shaw
