Following our earlier article about the new regime of refuse collections and the difficulties it is causing, we have had some more comments from readers.
Simmy, in a comment on our earlier piece, said:- “My bin had always been emptied on a Wednesday but no one has emptied my bin for the last two Wednesdays. I am leaving the bin outside all the time now in the hope it will eventually get emptied but it still hasn’t been emptied.
I can remember back in the early 80′s when the bins were emptied twice a week. Surely we need that kind of job creation in these difficult times!”
Alison Cruden from Clermiston wrote to tell us about her problems, and took time to explain to us that she and her partner have been removing their excess rubbish to the local recycling centre so there is little point in sending us a photograph as they have taken the matter into their own hands. Alison said:-
“I read your article regarding the new waste collections and would like to inform you of the situation in my stair. I like in a 4 in a block and our bins have not been emptied for 23 days now. They were supposed to have been emptied on the 14th but were not.
Myself and my neighbours have all made numerous phone calls and I’ve also emailed them and contacted my local MP but to no avail. One of my neighbours actually spoke to the binmen who were emptying the next street (a week later than they should have) which should be emptied on the same day as ours. She told them ours still needed emptied but they told her they weren’t told about ours and left! How could they not have been told about, we had all been calling them for days?
I have been fobbed off with the whole “teething problem” excuse, however this is a persistent problem with our stair that has been going on for years. How can the binmen know one week they have to empty the bin but not the next? The bins are always out the night before so i dont know what the issue is. I was told to put the excess black sacks out the last time this happened and they would be collected, however the binmen just looked at them and never took them. I have 8 month old twins and recycle everything I can and I still fill my bin every week. You can imagine how it smells and I’m expected to put that on the street for foxes to burst open and make a mess. Who’s going to clean it up, certainly not me thats for sure. We are all at the end of our tethers in this stair with it and seem to be getting absolutely no where.”
And here is the rest of the ongoing story. We have asked for a comment from Councillor Hinds who has written a blog post on the City of Edinburgh Council website, but have not as yet heard in reply. There is every need for the council to implement a recycling plan and stop sending rubbish to landfill which is expensive and not environmentally friendly, but what everyone wants is a service upon which they can depend.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
