Mixed welcome for new communal bins (From The Argus)

Mixed welcome for new communal bins in Brighton and Hove

7:20pm Tuesday 13th January 2009 in Search By Lawrence Marzouk, Local Government Correspondent

The rollout of communal bins across the centre of Brighton and Hove has begun, to mixed reaction from the public.

The council began installing the giant containers in the Regency area yesterday.

The first streets to receive the 600 bins were Norfolk Road, Clifton Terrace, Montpelier Street, Regent Hill, Windlesham Gardens, Preston Street and Clarence Square.

The controversial containers are to be placed in 500 streets during the next six months, affecting 27,000 properties.

Residents of Montpelier and Clifton Hill, one of Brighton's most prized conservation areas, have been among the most vocal opponents of the scheme. Householders in Norfolk Road, the first street to receive communal bins yesterday, fought off attempts to be included in the initial rollout in 2004.

Say no to new bins posters are still pinned to windows of half a dozen homes in the attractive road which leads to Norfolk Square.

As residents awoke to two big, black containers being placed at the bottom of their road yesterday, response to the new arrivals was varied.

The scheme will cost taxpayers £615,000, including a new rubbish truck, but the council estimates that seven years after the bins have been introduced, it will have saved almost £1 million.

The council said the move will pave the way for cleaner streets and follows the success of communal bins in other parts of the city.

The area affected spans most of central Brighton and Hove, from Sackville Road, Hove, to Arundel Road, east Brighton.

Seafront squares such as Lewes Crescent and Brunswick Square have been excluded from the scheme.