Forum Topic

Council's bulky waste collection- confused

Hi, I'm a little confused about this. I live in a flat above shops on the high road. I called Hounslow council because I wanted to get rid of a small sofa, they told me they wouldn't collect because if I had to leave it outside and it would be on the pedestrians pathway.. I said it wouldn't because I would leave it by the kerb.. she said no .The website says flats have to leave the items in a communal area and accessible to the collection crew. We don't have a communal area. I told the council that, but they wouldn't ring the bell either even if I wanted to take it downstairs I see sometimes bulky items on the high road , I'm just wondering if they are left for the council to collect or would it be another private collection company? even if it was, regardless who was collecting the item, it would be in the street anyway.. so I don't understand 

Isabel Smith ● 1485d24 Comments

"I see sometimes bulky items on the high road" Normally Dumped by people who live in a flats above shops on CHR.

Julian Pavey ● 1484d

Imho the Sainsbury's in Hammersmith is cheaper on many items which is probably due to to the area being less affluent ie.No waitrose etc.There is of course no recycling that I am aware of.

Tony Antares ● 1484d

Oh right, okay then......

Julian Pavey ● 1484d

Julian is absolutely correct.All too often bulky items would be fly tipped on Cranbrook Road or next to the stupid grit bin in front of Dogtown.Ask Guy Lambert why his trash and recycling portfolio is such a rotten failure. It's his to sort out.

David Lesniak ● 1484d

I find the waste collection and recycling in Hounslow to be very good. There is obviously a specific problem with the original poster's situation though. Hopefully Guy will be able to help.

Anne England ● 1484d

Why is it so often the case that you have to know who/which Councillor to contact in order to get anything sorted with Hounslow Council.  John Todd, has for years had to intervene, and been very helpful. When as a council tax payer a service should be available, without resorting to someone stepping in.

Maggie Dodge ● 1484d

Who decides the level of contact the council offers?  For ages there has been no telephone access.  Perhaps all our Councillors could get together and ask for a change, rather than having to step in for every problem.  Or at least let us know what it would cost to provide a decent service.

Vivienne Cox ● 1484d

so the only solution is to contact the councillor? do they even reply ? I never contacted one . This  is an issue for flats above shops then if the council refuses to collect bulky items, what are we supposed to do them? I don't have a car to take anything anywhere .  I don't see the problem with leaving an item outside overnight if they are coming the next day to collect like they do with the rubbish . 

Isabel ● 1484d

Well, there's no answer to that is there? Surely to God our esteemed council knows that not all flats have a communal area? A friend told me that after emptying a deceased relatives flat she paid £40 for Hounslow to collect a fridge, washing machine and sofa - which they had to saw in half (as it did not fit with the council's size guidelines). Having managed with help, to hump these items down to the front communal entrance, they found that overnight the white goods vanished! But what do you do if you are elderly or disabled and live in a block without lifts?

Vanessa Smith ● 1484d

And around the tree to the right of the roebuck. Normaly flatpack furniture dumped by tennants moving out i think

Julian Pavey ● 1484d

You don't have to use the Council service.  I'm not actually sure that it was the Council that was contacted - it may well have been a company working with the Council so they will have their own restrictions.  Or perhaps the person answering the phone has not come across this situation before.  In this case the Council obviously needs to revisit their understanding with the company.  When items are fit for reuse often the best option is to find someone else who wants what you no longer want and that cuts out the difficulty of negotiating with an unknown middleman.With Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) the deal is that whoever wants whatever it is collects it and takes it away.With the British Heart Foundation (https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods/book-furniture-collection-near-me) they have their own restrictions eg  charities would want a sofa to have a fire label.It is true that items put out for arranged collection often disappear before they are collected.  No doubt there are also plenty of complaints from residents when anything is on the pavement because of the obstruction caused and the fly-tipping it attracts. 

Philippa Bond ● 1484d

There are people coming around in vans all the time looking for anything containing metal. A friend of mine put a washing machine out at the border of her property (i.e. not on the pavement) and it was gone soon as. Likewise, I had a new central heating system installed last year and the plumber put the bits taken out in a parking space which I wasn't too happy about. He did say that he would take the bits with him if not gone by the end of the day and - maybe we were just 'lucky' - but believe it or not, and to my relief, the 'men' came within the time the plumber was still in my property and he was able to give him some more bits and pieces from the back of his van. I suppose these collectors are a bit like rag and bone men of old although I have no idea of where they take their spoils and what becomes of it.

Anne England ● 1484d

Hi Isabel - sorry to hear of your difficulty and I do think we should be offering a service to deal with problems like yours. I have raised it with the lead officer at the council.By all means write to your councillor or to me if it's to do with waste and recycling or environmental issues guy.lambert@hounslow.gov.uk - you will (nearly) always get a response though I will occasionally ignore very abusive emails. I also ask people to remind me if things don't get sorted so please remind me by email if you don't hear more in a few days.

Guy Lambert ● 1484d

I think that some workmen are not registered waste carriers but know people who are.Have you seen our statutory waste authority's new website:There is more info on getting more items repaired and reducing the amount of waste that is disposed of losing all its reusable value.There is always something new to learn.So much of the stuff we no longer want can be reused as it is, repaired or recycled for reuse by somebody else!

Philippa Bond ● 1484d

Duh - forgot to add it:https://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/

Philippa Bond ● 1484d

I'm delighted to see Guy has engaged. Thus far he has ignored an email of mine with regard to his team making a right mess of our recycling and then not having the courtesy to correct it. When the error is theirs, I fail to see why collection is then skipped putting the onus on constituents. To me it reflects on the culture set by leadership.I'm also curious if Guy can tell the difference between frustration and "abuse."

David Lesniak ● 1484d

People very often express frustration by being abusive. I'm sure we've all done it at some point and not necessarily with the Council. In the end it doesn't generally turn out to be a constructive way forward.

Anne England ● 1484d

Thank you Guy for your reply. I will give the council another call next week and see what they say ( I mentioned a sofa because that's what I had when I called the council last time but my landlord gave it to my neighbour since then , now it's a medium sized electrical item that I would like to dispose of ) if they don't help I'll email you.

Isabel ● 1484d

Most plumbers I’ve had contact with, in my time working for a plumbing company kept all the scrap metal for themselves.

Maggie Dodge ● 1484d

Indeed, Anne.Passive aggression is also abusive.Frustration was aired privately. Passive aggression was returned. On a public forum.

David Lesniak ● 1483d

www.trashnothing.co.uk is a useful way of giving things away to someone else who can make use of them.When you leave something behind in a rented flat instead of being household waste when you are in charge of it it becomes business waste when your landlord or whoever he employs to clear it is in charge of it.  Business Waste is chargeable and money may be claimed back from you by your landlord for its disposal.I remember a neighbour having to wait a long time for a mattress to be collected despite a booking.  It was a shame because it was in good shape but by the time the collection was made it had rained...  :(

Philippa Bond ● 1483d

They must have had plenty of space.  A lot of what plumbers deal with nowadays isn't scrap metal but plastic.  I do know a plumber who used to every so often when he had enough copper piping and other smaller bits of metal take it to a scrap merchant to have it weighed and get some money for it.I believe the law has been changed and scrap metal merchants are no longer allowed to pay in cash in hand for metal brought into them.  Hopefully that has now stopped or slowed down the stripping off of church roofs.

Philippa Bond ● 1483d

"www.trashnothing.co.uk is a useful way of giving things away to someone else who can make use of them."Freagle is another.

James Petri ● 1481d

Actually it is trashnothing.com (my mistake) and it calls itself an alternate interface for many of the other groups including Freecycle and Freegle. I believe it works well on a mobile phone."Since freecycling began over a decade ago on Yahoo Groups, freecycling has spread to many new sites, groups and apps. Currently trash nothing supports the original Freecycle, Full Circles and ReUseIt groups on Yahoo Groups, Freegle groups, and groups powered by trash nothing. We're always open to add support for new groups and sites when possible but sadly many of the other sites don't have the features necessary for trash nothing to access their groups."I don't understand all the technology of it all!

Philippa Bond ● 1481d