RUBBISH - Some of my thoughts

There has been a lot of anger and vitriol poured out in the press - both locally and nationally - over the situation in Exeter regarding the build-up of rubbish, so much so that I sent a letter of to the Express and Echo. A scattergun response to many points raised, they published it today.

Council information was unambiguous

I do feel sorry for those people whose back lanes are littered with black rubbish bins - I am fortunate to have space for an under-used standard grey/black refuse bin and large, often full, green recycling one - but who is to blame for leaving them there in the first place?

Surely the instructions to households using black bags are the same as those using bins - to put them out after 6.30pm the night before a collections and return them to the property if the collection is missed?

Many residents complain when students ignore these simple instructions, yet this seems to be the cause of many of the problems.

And yes the treacherous weather conditions did mean that collections were missed. Yet when I checked the Council's website, the information given was clear and unambiguous. Learning from the period of similar conditions at the beginning of the year, to avoid confusion the day of the expected collection would be maintained and no additional collections were to made.

You criticise Cllr Rob Hannaford for appearing to do nothing over the period but I have seen a press statement date 22 Dec 2010 which states: "...if a collection has not been made, our advice is to takeback the bin or bags and then put it out on your next scheduled collection date..." I may be wrong, but I don't think I saw this published in your paper?

Many like Kim Osborne ["E&E" Letters 04 Jan 11] will think we all deserve a rebate for missed refuse collections. Now a Band D property pays £124.84 , so that works out £2.40 per week for ALL Exeter City Council services.

I haven't the time to analyse the Council's budget to calculate income and the budget figure for refuse collections but even despite the misfortunes suffered over the past few weeks, still good value.

Yours

paul bull

Some of these comments obviously touched a raw nerve at the E&E as they following was printed below my letter.

Editor's note: Actually, Mr Bull, in our edition of December 23, we said residents whose collections were cancelled "were told they would have to wait for their next scheduled collection." (Counting cost of winter onslaught, Pages 6 & 7).

We had published precisely the same advice, issued by Hazel Ball, director for community and environment, earlier in the week. We quoted her as saying: "If a grey waste collection was missed we are asking residents to recycle as much as possible. Double wrap any meat waste, compost vegetable peelings, and double-bag any excess waste, storing it sensibly until the next scheduled collection." (Fight to get region on move again, December 21, Pages 6 & 7).

We also quoted Cllr Hannaford, before the snow hit, as saying: "If we are unable to collect people's bins, then we would ask them to be patient and hold on to that rubbish until their scheduled collection." (What to do if refuse collection hit by bad weather, December 17, Page 8).

So why then do they attack Cllr Rob Hannaford for doing nothing?