The proposed introduction of bin hubs every 100 metres or so on New Town Streets which will replace the use of gull proof bags and recycling bins continues to occupy readers’ thoughts.
Currently New Town and Broughton Community Council are running a campaign to oppose the introduction of the bin hubs.
We published a Letter to the Editor about this penned by Simon Price and today’s letter is a response to that.
Dear Madam,
I totally agree with Simon Price that the proposed New Town Bin Hubs have been ill thought out.
When we moved into the New Town 20 years ago the plastic bags of household waste were just hung on the railings on a Thursday night or Friday morning.
What happened was that the seagulls soon learned where to find a meal and ripped the bags appart and thereafter the squirrels from the gardens dragged the remnants across our streets.
The brilliant idea to introduce gull proof bags solved these problems and we no longer have seagulls and other wildlife around our waste seeking a meal and attacking our household waste. It works and has worked for many years so why try and change it?
The use of Bin Hubs has been, and continues to become, an eyesore. Firstly, seagulls and other animals can stand on top and pull out food waste and then spread it over our streets. The communal bins on streets without gullproof bags actually attract dumping of rubbish and large items like mattresses and furniture which get dumped beside them.
I have witnessed cars drawing up and offloading large amounts of bags and items inside and beside communal bins. They never do that with our household gull proof bags. Another point is that each householder stores and cleans their gull proof bags, at least I do, and who will clean the insides of large bins and under them and around them and sanitise them?
On a hot summer day they will become smelly and attract rats etc.
Simon has made the point about Bin Hubs being unattractive as they are there every day, all day, whilst Gull proof bags are only out one day a week at the most.
Many years ago I learned that if it works do not change it, and gull proof bags is a perfectly efficient and hygenic way for household waste to be collected in historic New Town of beautiful Edinburgh, and has worked for many years now.
Yours etc.,
Dr Derek Shepherd EH3
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
Living on the edge of the New Town, I do understand Dr Shepherd’s concerns regarding the communal bins, because we ourselves were there many years ago. However, we’ve got used to them. What we haven’t got used to is the number of New Town residents who use our communal bins to dump their own excess rubbish. It’s illegal fly tipping – the Council asks residents to take photos of people who do it – and it’s a problem all around the outskirts of the New Town. Most of the bins in these areas have to be emptied several times each week, but when they’re full, people just dump their rubbish alongside the bins anyway.
That’s the problem: too many New Town residents don’t want wheelie bins, but are too lazy to take their excess rubbish to official recycling centres instead.
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