Barry Lambton (Green Spaces Manager) attended to explain the issues regarding this new approach:
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Change has been a difficult one
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Now coming back to business as usual, i.e. prior to introduction of the village approach
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Introduced to enable services to be provided in 8 areas across the borough, rather than borough-wide, as previously
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Problems - particularly with bulk collections - gone through a number of remodelling exercises with Veolia, to change ramp sizes and staffing in different areas
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Still experiencing some missed collections
The following issues were raised:
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Main problem continues to be food waste bins - particularly for flats.
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Friday collection missed - inspector was emailed but it was missed again the next Friday.
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Who owns the food waste bins? Who responsible for cleaning? Who responsible for replacing?
Barry Lambton: The team that do the bulk recycling have had problems with Friday collections. If missed, it should go through to the service desk to reschedule for collection on Saturday but this has not always been happening. We are working with the housing team and will take this back to look into it.
The food bins are owned by council. Cleansing is responsibility of Housing Services - due to start next week. It is done twice a year. Broken bins are replaced by Housing Services. First set of cleaning was around May 2015. Next time, stickers will be put on bins with the date when cleaned.
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Food waste bins - cleaning only twice a year is not enough - needs to be 4 times a year.
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Not had any food bins cleaned this year. Disgusting in hot summer.
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Contractors collected food bin waste but spilled it all over the gardens and did not clean it up.
Barry Lambton: We will take this on board. We can organise cleansing more frequently but would have to be a paid-for service. Cleaning bins would be an additional service for the contractor to carry out.
Veolia should have cleaned up the mess if they were responsible. If you let us know, we will send them back to do it. All Veolia staff going through training - about putting bins back, clearing up mess and debris around the bins.
Stephen Tate: We will look into the question of food bin cleaning and come back to you.
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Service was fit for purpose before the change and now is not. Used to have emptying of waste bins on Tuesdays at a reasonable hour. Now sometimes on Monday around 6am before the caretaker is on duty.
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Rubbish was dumped on Sunday and has not been cleared. It is worse than before.
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Sunnybank - load of rubbish been there for weeks.
Barry Lambton: We have to start somewhere and end somewhere, so start fairly early.
Fly tipping is an issue in the whole of the borough. Contractor sometimes has difficulty getting in to collect waste because of fly tipping. It is difficult to keep on top of it. Fly tipping should be reported - you can do so through My Account or the contact system.
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St Mark's Road - we only have a set of big black bins. No food waste bins. It's been the same for several years.
Barry Lambton: We are focusing on recycling, particularly on estates. We want to encourage recycling. Please talk to the Housing Team and let them know you are interested.
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How is the new system being communicated to others not informed by this forum?
Barry Lambton: My App, My Account and other communications are being used. We are being contacted by a vast number of people.
Cllr Joy Prince: This is a huge change. More analysis is needed. People go through My App, telephone and email - then turn to their councillors in desperation. In Waddon, we are finding that rather than missed bins rarely, it tends to be more concentrated. If the incidences are mapped you may find they are concentrated in specific roads. The underlying reason needs to be sorted.
Barry Lambton: We do analyse the data and it does seem to be same properties repeatedly. We log it and drivers have to clear it. We meet regularly with the contractors.
Cllr Oliver Lewis: It is important to remember that the changes have been forced on Croydon from central government. Invariably there will be a number of teething problem whilst things are improving. Are the penalties for the contractor if fail to meet performance being enforced?
Barry Lambton: There are penalties. For missed bins - the penalty is based on the number. At the end of the year, the penalty is calculated.