Leeds Labour council bin charges

As of today, the Labour-run Leeds city council will be charging residents for new or replacement black and brown bins. Anyone whose bin is stolen or damaged will need to pay the council £15.40 to secure a replacement. The new fees are listed on the council website, and the council’s briefing notice on the policy is shown below:

We can’t see how this policy will be anything other than a disaster in Headingley and Hyde Park. Here, many people live in terraced houses with no private space to keep their own bins. Instead, bins sit in bin-yards, or – more often – out on the pavement, so that it is often unclear which bin belongs to which property. Many local households also don’t have much disposable income, and would struggle to pay for a new bin. The result is bound to be that broken or stolen bins are not replaced, leading to a gradual fall in the number of usable bins available, disputes over who owns the remaining ones and rubbish all over the streets.

Once again, the Labour council has shown a total failure to understand the issues affecting rubbish collections in Headingley and Hyde Park, and our Labour councillors clearly haven’t done enough to speak up for the area and secure a system which will work for local people.

Council plan to charge for bulky waste collection

We understand that Leeds City Council will be introducing charging for the collection of ‘bulky waste’ from 9th May. The fee will be a flat rate of £20.

This is a significant concern in Headingley and Hyde Park, where sofas left in front gardens are already a persistent problem. That situation is hardly going to be improved by bringing an end to the free removal service.

The image below shows a list of Re-Use Providers in the city who will collect your unwanted furniture and ‘white goods’.

Taking your goods to the nearest Recycling Centre (Kirkstall or Meanwood Road) yourself will also continue to be free.

What a load of rubbish!

Residents in the Granbys have been dismayed to find their rubbish going completely uncollected at least twice this month. Granby Grove, which is a cul-de-sac, has been particularly badly affected. Locals report that bin crews are not driving their collection wagon up this road, or rolling the bins down to the end of it for emptying.

Uncollected rubbish on this scale poses a public health hazard, not to mention making the neighbourhood look ugly and uncared-for. Council officers responded to the problem in early February, but it has now happened again only two weeks later, suggesting a systemic problem with the way the collections are managed.

We would like to know why this has started happening, and what the root problems are. Is Leeds’ Labour-run council really competent to manage our bin services?

Out on the doorsteps: St. Michael’s area

This weekend, Penny Goodman and the Headingley Liberal Democrat team were out on the doorsteps on the St. Michael’s area. We spoke to residents about their local concerns, and asked them to fill out a survey showing their priorities for the area.

One big issue which came up here was bins, including uncollected ‘side waste’ (extra bags etc. left at the side of full bins) and bins blocking the pavement. We could see the problem for ourselves.

side-waste

bins-on-pavement

We will be asking the council to take measures to tackle this.

Focus stories: Local clean-up success!

Working with local residents, Liberal Democrat campaigner Penny Goodman ensured that a neglected area of Ash Terrace was spruced up and made tidy.

Penny Goodman said:

Local residents had raised with me their concerns about the overgrown vegetation. I took the issue to the Council and they agreed to fix it up. Two truck-loads of greenery have now been taken away.

It was great to be able to work with residents to get the job done. If any other residents are having similar issues, please let me know.

See below for before and after pictures of the site:

Before...

Before…

...and after

…and after

Headingley Christmas bin collections

Headingley residents might like to know about the special arrangements for bin collections in Leeds over Christmas and the New Year. This year, the council will not be sending out letters to notify residents of the changes, so please use the ‘share’ buttons at the bottom of this post to help make sure that your friends and neighbours are aware.

Christmas bin collection dates for Headingley Leeds 2015Remember that you can check your bin collection dates at any time of year by entering your postcode here. You can also print out a personal bin collection calendar.

Focus stories: Labour’s bin shame

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Penny Goodman, is calling on Leeds Labour to sort out the bins in Headingley after receiving complaints from residents in the Ash Road area that the new opt-in recycling scheme, brought in by the Labour Councillors, is not working.

Green bin collections were stopped and residents who wished to sort their recycling were told that they could request recycling bags. But on Chapel Street the old green bins have been left abandoned, blocking the pavement and causing problems for people with disabilities and parents with pushchairs. Some residents have also not received recycling bags despite requesting them several times.

Bins blocking the pavement in Chapel Street

Bins blocking the pavement in Chapel Street

Labour-run Leeds City Council is letting Headingley down by not ensuring that the new scheme is implemented properly across the whole of the pilot area.

Local residents have also been telling us that they would like to see doorstep glass and food waste recycling in their area. Liberal Democrat Councillors in other parts of the City implemented a successful doorstep food waste recycling pilot, which we want to see rolled out across Leeds.

Update: after publishing this story in our Focus leaflet, we reported the bin problems in Chapel Street to the Environment and Housing team, and were told that this street is not part of the Ash Road opt-in recycling pilot after all. Yet the local residents we spoke to believed that they were included in the pilot, and the suspension of their regular green bin collections suggests their bin collection teams thought so too. So the real problem here is poor communication around the pilot scheme, leading to residents and collection teams believing one thing and Environment and Housing believing another.

Focus stories: cleaning up our area

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Penny Goodman, is taking action to clean up our area!

Penny has successfully got graffiti cleared up in a number of streets, including Bennett Road and Alma Road. And thanks to her quick action, Penny has secured a new litter bin at the entrance to the Lupton Residences.

The local Liberal Democrat team also took action to get the rubbish cleared up from around the recycling bins at the Headingley Taps.

Why aren’t Headingley’s Labour Councillors tacking these issues?

Local residents know that Penny and the Lib Dems get things done in our area. If you spot any issues, please contact us.

New bins at Lupton Residences

In late August, a resident on Alma Road told us that students often leave litter outside the entrance to Lupton Residences. They would probably love to be able to put it in a proper bin, but the problem has been that there wasn’t one! This photograph shows the results – wine-bottles, beer-cans and plastic cups lying around the entrance gate:

Lupton entrance 1

We raised the issue, and were told that the management of the halls would be installing a bin next to the entrance soon. But it’s been a while! This week, we chased the issue up – and a couple of days later, what do you know? Not one but two new bins are now in pride of place beside the path:

Lupton entrance 2

We’re really pleased to have helped sort this issue out. Having proper bins here is better for students and locals.