Forum Topic

On the subject of rubbish and JBs comments

Joanna Biddolph claims she is taken by Wandsworth (Tory run Council) big item recycling scheme and 'rubbishes' Hounslow's record - just a reminder that they do not do any food recycling at all and last year were 30th out of 33 Boroughs when Hounslow were 19th.

Ruth Mayorcas ● 1611d31 Comments

Wandsworth have been burning all their food waste and there appear to be Councillors there who don't seem to understand that it can actually be a good thing when residents present less food waste for collection!  I believe they are now trialling it one area.  It's good for the environment and good for residents' pockets as they see exactly what they are wasting and can then tweak their buying, storing, cooking and eating habits.The amount of food waste we make here is horrifying and I suspect a lot of it is due to the enormous number of ready meals and prepared foodstuffs we buy compared to other countries and the lack of understanding of food labelling.

Philippa Bond ● 1611d

A few points.The Wandsworth Council scheme is a good idea and should be replicated here.Wandsworth's record on recycling overall is poor. The Tories look set to lose there so it will be interesting to see how Labour do when they take over.Hounslow's own record is nothing to shout about and it is perfectly legitimate for an opposition councillor to complain about it. There appears to be little correlation between political party and recycling rate in London - the top borough is Tory and the worst is Labour but there is huge variation within that.If you are going to raise the topic of recycling rates it would be interesting to hear what is in the main parties' manifestos on the subject.

Francis Rowe ● 1611d

Yet another unwarranted, unnecessary and spiteful swipe at Cllr Biddolph by one of her few serial and biased detractors.It's amazing that some folk believe that the Labour Councillors at Hounslow House have done a good job. However, as many who work in the NHS have said we can't cure stupid...

Loraine Pemberton ● 1611d

We have pals in Wandsworth borough and they rave about their recycling plant so perhaps it’s a model to review and improve. We have nowhere to go other than Greenford which is utterly ridiculous, we are in Ealing.

Jayne Thorburn ● 1611d

Fun fact, Ruth, though I know sometimes facts seem to get in your way. Guy's new grit bin fiasco is a complete failure. They are woefully undersized and act as nothing more than a magnet for more rubbish and fly tipping. Plus the collection lorry has to use the cycle lane. Didn't really think that one through now did he?Business recycling during the pandemic was mostly non-existent. Recycling was dumped into the general collection down to staffing issues. I'd guess staffing in that sector is also negatively impacted by Brexit.However the good news is I don't think you live here full time so lucky for you, you can enjoy the relative perfection of Holland. You fly there, yes?

David Lesniak ● 1611d

You're too right you can't cure stupid and stupid is exactly what it is to be so blatantly unprepared for a pandemic and to have so determinably run down the NHS so that there are now not just 100,000 job vacancies but 110,000 with a lot of burnt out medical staff.  The pandemic is not over - it will run and run as the virus mutates and vulnerable people vaccinated and vaccinated will succumb to it.  Figures of those with it will not be accurate since little testing is being carried out.  Shortages of staff creates pressure on those who should not be working to go to work.

Philippa Bond ● 1611d

Jayne, I think Townmead has been suggested as our best alternative, now that we’ve lost Stirling Road. Never been there myself and of course there’s the peril of going down the wrong type of road if you’re heading via Grove Park. Going out is ok but best to return via Kew Bridge. Not sure if there’s a booking system, probably is

Maggie Dodge ● 1611d

You could try the Feltham Space Waye recycling centre but watch out for all the fly-tipping in the area because apparently the Feltham residents rarely report it.

Steve Taylor ● 1610d

People are very good at moaning about any lack of Council infobut Councils must wonder why they bother when people don't look up the info they do put up on their websites which can be viewed 24/7.  So different from when we could only phone up during working hours of something when it was frowned upon for workers to use work phones and no-one had mobile phones.  It will also be in council magazines for those not on the internet..BTW our Waste Authority is the West London Waste Authority.  Each of the boroughs which is part of this has a Councillor representing it.  It has a website too.

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

Shame about the people who don’t “go on line”. The people who used to be comfortable on the phone and understood that people weren’t available 24/7 and didn’t have a problem with that. Those people find when they telephone they get messages to check the website. Those people are the elderly, the less well-off, etc etc. but they’re not important are they.

Maggie Dodge ● 1610d

"...watch out for all the fly-tipping in the area because apparently the Feltham residents rarely report it."Reports of flytipping and graffiti since Oct 2021:Feltham: 728Chiswick: 723The exact numbers will depend on the area chosen, but I appreciate you providing a clear demonstration that presumptions of a significant difference would suggest a combination of ignorance and prejudice.https://www.fixmystreet.com/around?lat=51.44921&lon=-0.41082&js=1&zoom=2&filter_category=Fly%20tipping,Fly%20tipping%20-%20Enforcement%20Request,Graffiti%20%2F%20Flyposting%20(non-offensive),Graffiti%20%2F%20Flyposting%20(offensive)&status=open,closed,fixed&sort=created-aschttps://www.fixmystreet.com/around?lat=51.48594&lon=-0.26491&js=1&zoom=2&filter_category=Fly%20tipping,Fly%20tipping%20-%20Enforcement%20Request,Graffiti%20%2F%20Flyposting%20(non-offensive),Graffiti%20%2F%20Flyposting%20(offensive)&status=open,closed,fixed&sort=created-asc

Tom Pike ● 1610d

Of course I meant both you and Jayne who are quite happy to post on here but can't be bothered to take responsibility and see what the Councils' websites say.  BTW I think timed restrictions were brought in countrywide and it's not just Ealing or Hounslow Council or anything to do with cycle lanes or lobbies whatever fantasies you have.The way that waste is being dealt with has been changing and heavy marketing and easy credit has created mountains of stuff much of which is poor quality and doesn't last and and much of which people become quickly bored with and ditch expecting the disposal to be paid for by Councils (or rather Council Tax payers).  The Tories always during their governments roll back more of the state because they don't want to pay for it and want low taxes.  You can't have low taxes and a valeting service especially when there are so many other statutory services like care and also the NHS which are underfunded.

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

Hounslow's recycling rate has gone from 29.8% in 2017/8 to 37.8% in Q3 of 2021/2. Still not the best but pleasing progress at a time when many councils are going backwards.All the West London Waste Authority boroughs (Hounslow, Ealing, Brent, Richmond, Hillingdon and Harrow) use the booking system for waste sites which WLWA developed.The grit bins have been a great success around the borough (though they do need tweaking in places due to insufficient capacity) and are welcomed by nearly everybody, including the Conservative councillors in Chiswick with whom we consulted before deploying them.If Labour form the next administration we have pledged to roll out the Special Waste Service, which has been trialled in parts of central Hounslow and brought dramatic improvement to fly tipping, across hotspots across the borough (which will include points nominated by Chiswick Councillors). I have some of my own ideas for Chiswick which will be discussed with incoming councillors (if I'm still a councillor)

Guy Lambert ● 1610d

"Shame about the people that don't go online".  Those are the people who for whom fast changing technology can be a challenge and sometimes too big a challenge.  We can help by making sure that they get the magazines or print out the info on holiday bin changes and offer to take something to a recycling centre or repair shop or give them the info or find them the ways to help themselves which is often their preference.Age UK used to run IT courses.  Repair Cafes are opening for those who can fix things to help others to mend things.  We can learn a lot of practical skills and knowledge in return from those struggling with changing IT.  Children are probably better or more patient or less time stressed than their parents at teaching their grandparents to text or investigating the speech to text facility on  a mobile.  Older generations learnt to sew buttons and to cook when young.  Many younger ones don't which is a handicap.  Don't forget there is cheap internet access available for those on benefits.

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

Do garbage trucks using the cycle lane count as active travel? I always forget this one. At least they pick up the furniture that is often left next to the grit bins. Now if only they could pick up the bags next to the abandoned parking meter by the vet, that would be grand. Hell, why not declutter the pavement (an LBH initiative by the by) and remove the abandoned parking meter altogether? Of course there will be plenty of parking in Brentford thanks to Guy's hard work getting that concrete monstrosity built and then whinging about it not being open. 

David Lesniak ● 1610d

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/broadband-deals-for-low-income-families/and I expect there are more and there are a lot of people entitled to benefits who don't claim.  (Claiming can be too complicated and they may need help.)

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

“ The way that waste is being dealt with has been changing and heavy marketing and easy credit has created mountains of stuff much of which is poor quality and doesn't last and and much of which people become quickly bored with and ditch ”When I see what people are dumping, and the continuous stream of  Amazon and Hermes deliveries, coupled with the endless stream of fast food delivery bikes and mopeds, it does indeed seem that there is just far too much money around. And this applies also to the vast purchasing power of those on benefits.

Steve Taylor ● 1610d

The wrong bags dumped on the street on the wrong days in the wrong place need to be investigated so need reporting. Just picking them up gives the impression it is a legitimate method of disposing of waste and encourages more and repeated dumping.  At one time in Acton volunteer residents used to stick notices on them drawing attention to them as flytipping and reporting them.  If you are lucky there may be an Enforcement Officer available to investigate.  CCTV can be used and fines issued.  Sometimes some leafleting can be done in a local area.  It all costs Councils (and therefore Council Taxpayers) money.

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

So have the G7 parked any plans to deal with all these global companies who choose where to pay tax ie in the country with the lowest tax instead of the right amount for each country in which the sales were made?

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

Some people don’t use the internet because they don’t want to. There’s a lot of people being made to do things they don’t want to. It’s wrong really. There should always be an alternative in a caring society

Maggie Dodge ● 1610d

Then you can make sure you can keep yourself informed by making sure you get the Council magazine.  You can also read that online and register for newsletter emails.  You would learn more about all the Council's responsibilities.

Philippa Bond ● 1610d

Philippa,  I’m clearly not talking about me. I worry about others as wellas myself.  You’re still talking about on line and emails. How you get hold of a Council representative to request the magazine I’m not sure.

Maggie Dodge ● 1609d

I thought the Hounslow Matters magazine was posted to everyone in the Borough.  It’s an INCREDIBLE waste of  paper because it has very little of interest or use. It seems to be just a Labour Party propaganda outlet paid for by the taxpayer!!  It’s just wrong on so many levels. I guess some find it useful to light their wood burning stoves so that they can keep warm and pollute the air whilst dreaming up useless ideas to save the planet!!

Steve Taylor ● 1609d

Tom, quick question, how many languages are on offer when trying to use any LBH portal? Does LBH cater to its diverse population by facilitating engagement in multiple languages?No.In New York, when you log on to, say, the Department of Housing (one that many New Yorkers would reference) it has over 100 languages available. Hounslow? 1. As in one.So if your able to access a computer, should you have one, and you are able to navigate a foreign written language which, by the by, will be in the heavy patois of bureaucratese you maybe able to log a complaint. Maybe.Demographically speaking, Chiswick residents are more ready, willing and able to engage with LBH "systems" and their representative councillors to get the job done. And I'm willing to bet they are also more ready, wiling ( a typo but it fits) and able to pursue loose ends when it is not.If the council system is not user-friendly to all, why then subject yourself to a second dip to follow up? Why subject yourself to the struggle to read repetitive bureaucratic blather when you might not be able to read English that well in the first place?

David Lesniak ● 1609d

My experience of 38 years of Ealing Council has been mostly of frustration.

Arnie Devi ● 1608d

I thought you wanted to help the elderly and less able?  I'm sure that is what you said.  If you can access and use this website and twitter and facebook then you can contact Councillors, and ask for the Council's magazines to either be delivered or sent to you or someone else.  You are disabling yourself if you just totally ignore changing technology.  Each of us has a different standard of technical knowledge.  A friend in her 80s with sight problems who had a secretary and never had to type has recently got a smartphone.  Somebody in the hairdresser's increased the size of the type on her WhatsApp messages for her.  I couldn't have done that.

Philippa Bond ● 1608d

You just go to the Council website and use the Search feature to find Hounslow Matters for HounslowAnd the same for Ealing.  I've always found the info inside that I wanted or how to find it out.

Philippa Bond ● 1608d

This perhaps the most ridiculous thread/comment I have ever seen on here. I lived in Wandsworth for 20 years and their recycling was phenomenal, from the early 90s.  It was a sign of just how well run the borough was. Clean streets, no graffiti - it just worked.  Not like Hounslow - okay recycling (at best) but trash all over the borough, including their own. Best some people like Ruth cycle a bit more to take it in - maybe even smell the coffee.  You're all living in some socialist paradigm, devoid from reality. It's sad.

Amanda Smith ● 1608d

The very fact that these Councils boast about all the litter picking groups, is proof that the streets are full to the black bag of rubbish and the street cleaning for which we pay is minimal. I’d be keeping it quiet if I were the Councillor’s involved.

Maggie Dodge ● 1608d

It shows that some residents care about the state of their surroundings and are also prepared to take and make the time to do so.Wandsworth does not pay the London Living Wage and there have been tremendous Govt cuts to all Councils now made worse by Brexit and the shortage and loss of workers including HGV drivers.  Wandsworth has in the past been labelled the Tory flagship Borough but struggled with those Govt cuts which Govt obviously found embarrassing. 

Philippa Bond ● 1608d

Well said, Amanda Smith. You are spot on. Not to mention that Putney also has one the the lowest crime rates in London whilst Hounslow has the highest.  Cllr Biddolph is right to draw our attention to how a Council can be run and should be run. And I agree also that a council should not be publishing photos, and bragging, about litter picking events. The council should be ashamed and embarrassed that it is so absolutely useless at rubbish collection and street cleaning that it has to rely on volunteers.

Steve Taylor ● 1608d