Public to rule on super-bins plan (From The Argus)

Public to rule on super-bins plan

5:33am Friday 14th September 2007 in

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A council is rethinking plans to force communal wheelie bins on every neighbourhood.

Brighton and Hove City Council wanted to install up to 575 car-sized bins from May next year to cut down on rubbish strewn across the streets.

But it has delayed its decision following objections from residents and councillors worried about the appearance of the bins and the loss of parking spaces.

Instead the matter will be put out to consultation, which could result in the bins being used in some streets but not others.

The bins were expected to take up more than 140 roadside parking spaces.

At a meeting last night members of the council's environment committee unanimously voted that more consultation was needed with residents and staff unions.

Communal bins would be emptied six days a week and require fewer workers than home-by-home collections.

The council has promised the extra staffing hours would be deployed elsewhere, perhaps to move recycling collections from twice a month to once a week.

Conservative councillor Geoffrey Theobald, the chairman of the environment committee, stood by the plan in principle but agreed more consultation should be carried out.

He said: "It is about providing proper refuse storage for households.

"The black sack system is antiquated, unclean and unsafe. I don't think it is acceptable in this day and age. We see sacks ripped apart and the contents thrown across the pavements.

"This is an endeavour to relieve the situation and get to what we all want, which is a clean and tidy city."

A questionnaire carried out by Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Elgood in his Brunswick and Adelaide ward found 379 people were against the scheme and 361 were in favour.

The proposal to put the decision out to consultation was made as the result of an amendment from Labour councillors.

Labour group leader Gill Mitchell said: "We feel communal bins aren't a one-size-fits-all solution."

Green councillor Sven Rufus said: "We need consultation to make sure we don't dismiss any of the options, for instance bin-velopes.

"It has been quite frustrating for a number of councillors until now not to be involved in discussions for the wards they represent."

Bin-velopes are the collapsible rectangular bags used to protect rubbish from seagulls in North Laine.

A second amendment was passed asking the council to report back with details of how recycling rates were likely to be affected.

Communal bins have been trialled for two years in Grand Parade, Waterloo Street, Powis Square, Bedford Square, Norfolk Square, Lansdowne Place, Marine Square, the Bristol Estate, Craven Vale, the Phoenix Estate and Hove Promenade.

The proposal last night was to roll bins out to 27,000 households between Davigdor Road and the seafront and from Sackville Road in Hove to Boundary Road in Kemp Town.

The scheme was anticipated to cost £675,000 but save the city £970,000 by 2015.