The council’s new waste collection arrangements have not gone unnoticed across the city, but in particular residents of West Pilton know all about the changes.
Traci Gaven lives in West Pilton Avenue, and on Bonfire Night the communal green bin which serves six houses including hers went missing. The lid had already disappeared a day or two before meaning that birds had free access to the rubbish which was being scattered around the street, but it appears that the bin may have been stolen and set on fire that night.
So Traci asked the council for a new bin, and she is STILL WAITING! The council apparently advised that the waiting time is 21-28 days for a normal wheelie bin but it would be quicker to get a replacement communal green bin. This has proved not to be the case. Even though Traci and her neighbours have been told they are top of the list they have not been given a delivery date yet.
As well as the missing green bin, there are other aspects of the changes to this rubbish story which have affected the West Pilton residents. It appears that the new teams simply don’t know where to collect the rubbish from.
Where Traci lives the flats can be accessed from two streets, and often their rubbish is simply missed from the fortnightly collections. Traci said:-“Although our green bin is collected from the car park at the back of the property, our red and blue recycling boxes along with food waste collections are taken from the front of the houses.
There are also communal purple bins for mixed glass out the back which are full to bursting. The recycling lorries come to the front and these bins simply don’t get emptied. Now that the purple bins are full they attract youngsters who have been seen and heard taking bottles out and throwing them at each other and at cars.
This is now really frustrating.”
Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, has replied to Traci by Twitter that she will organise a collection of the glass “as soon as possible”.
According to the council’s website this morning all of their collections are up to date. If you have any problems with your own collection then this is the advice given on the council website:-
“If your bin has been missed but it is not mentioned above, please report it to waste@edinburgh.gov.uk or call 0131 529 3030 or use our online form.
You can check your collection calendar on the online directory. Bins should be out on the kerbside by 6am, please leave them out until 10pm.”
The council have a Zero Waste strategy and want to reduce what is sent to landfill as they believe this costs too much both financially and for the environment. You can read more about the council’s plan to reduce waste and increase recycling here on their website.
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Traci I feel sorry for you but your not alone, Lesley Hinds and her mob could not make things any worse if they tried.
I recently wrote to Lesley and her team re lot’s of issues in North Edinburgh which have been reported many times. The only way you get a response is by going to the press. It should not be the case.
We still have missed collections, missings bins, and it will only get worse.
If your up for getting this sorted, ask the Edinburgh reporter to give you my email address and we will chase it up for you, I am the webmaster of TRIM and I liaise very closely with Tenants and Residents In Pilton group.
We need to get together and get this mess sorted.
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