Long-running bin problem resolved!
It’s the little things that go a long way to make an area really nice to live in. However, often it is so difficult to get seemingly simple things fixed.
The problem
Some residents approached me about an issue with their bins. The refuse bin was always left out on the road and attracted a lot of fly-tipping. Initially, it seemed the bin was left there because its cupboard was blocked by the works hoarding for a new block being built next to the existing block.
However, once the new building was finished, the bin still wasn’t being put back in the cupboard. I went on a wild goose chase between the council’s waste team, the residents, the housing association for the existing block and the council’s project management team for the new block to figure out what was going wrong.
I found out that there were three problems:
- Firstly, the new building had been built so that the door of the existing block’s bin room couldn’t open fully.
- Secondly, the housing association had allowed years’ of rubbish to build up inside the bin room and not cleaned it properly.
- Thirdly, the chute into the bin room was broken, meaning there was also rubbish backed up into the chute!
Solutions
Once I told the project managers for the new block about the fact that the bin cupboard door was blocked, they acted fast to make adjustments and ensure the cupboard could be opened again.
Then, the housing association hired some waste removal contractors to clear the cupboard and the chute (according to locals, it took them several trips with a van).
Finally, the bin is now safely back in its cupboard and the chute is working again.
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