General Chat

Oh Ann, I was sat here wondering if I missed something and I was paying for my recyling bin. I come under Gloucester not Tewkesbury thats why.

Anne

Although nobody likes paying out extra money I can see that charging those who use the service ( council estimate approx. 36% ) is a fairer system that raising tax for everyone.

If we pay before March 1st we need only pay £25, so we will do that.... There's no mention of subsequent years' payments.

It would be too much hassle to take garden waste to our tip. I am a non driver but the main gardener in this household.

Gwyn

There were a lot of questions when we had to pay for our garden waste bin from tewkesbury which we come under and just up th road Glos city don't charge for garden waste collection. However, it was then proved to us that they have extra loaded into everybody's council tax to pay for the garden waste collection while those people in our borough who don't choose to have garden waste collected (it was voluntary) don't have to pay anything. They can't put garden waste in their green bin though so have to take it to the recycling centre.
And of course if the people in this borough take it to Gloucester tip, which they will because it is closer, they' re helping to meet the target of Glos city council and not Tewkesbury their own council.

I bet not a lot of people have worked that out, and wont until our council tax rises.
Ann
Glos

We have a brown bin for gardening waste and brown cardboard, red box for plastic bottles, green box for newspapers cans tins shoes, and green bin for everything else including maggots in the summer. We have fortnightly collections hence the extra addition in the summer.

Nice to know Penny, and I wonder what they would say if that was put to them?

Deanna X

Our council have a target to meet regarding recycling. If you have to pay to have your recycling collected you are paying the council extra to meet THEIR target!!!

I'm with you there Jean... that is what tax is for.

We have three bins.
Black for household waste.
Brown for plastic and paper.
Green for garden waste and cardboard.

They are emptied (alternately) fortnightly, but we find it quite a heavy job sometimes. We do agree with it, it is just a bind for people who may be infirm.

Glass used to be collected but now we have to take it to the bottle bank.

The people with rats, which I have seen on the news.... they don't seem to have bins. Am I right or is that just extra which is put out in plastic bags?
Unless you have bins...... you will have rats wont you?

Deanna X

We live in a country village about 7 miles from the nearest dump (sorry recycling centre!!!).
We used to be able to take any old rubbish there but now they have big signs saying what percentage of waste they recycled last month and they glare at anyone chucking in anything which can't be recycled. I once got a real telling off for lobbing a black bin liner full of general waste in the "cannot be recycled" skip but we'd missed the dustbin men and were going to the dump anyway.

We try very hard to recycle stuff. Once a fortnight our bottles, cans and paper are collected by the council but mountains of cardboard, plastic bottles and cartons seem to gather. That we have to take to the recycling centre.

We have two large compost bins and save what we can but we can't compost the larger garden waste. That piles up in heaps until we usually end up having to carry it through the house to the front garden and piling it up into our trailer.

It all seems so much more complicated than it did when I was a kid. Then we had one dustbin which Mum lined with newspaper (no bin liners). The Scouts collected our papers. Dad heaped all compost at the end of the garden and burned everything else in an incinerator or on a bonfire.

Sue
x

What does one pay councel tax ?for Then??if not to empty ones bins!! we have a black bin for all normal waste which i bag anyway a green one for news papers/cans/ cardboard/ and plastic bottles' and a brown for garden waste/ie grass cuttings/and plant cuttings.if they start charging us I shall dump in on town Hall forcourt. Jean

We have a large brown wheelie bin provided by Bexley Council which is for garden waste AND all food waste, including peelings, raw or cooked meat, fish and bones and even plate scrapings (Motto is Scrape Your Plate, lol), anything compostable can go in there. It's collected weekly and there is no charge.

We also have a plastic box for paper, one for plastics and tins and another for glass, which are collected fortnightly on alternate weeks.

The normal green wheelie is just for packaging and other non-recyclable waste.

Our Council is about to start fortnightly collections for the green wheelie and weekly for all the others.

Dee
x

I had rats in my compost bin - Council came and saw them off. My old toothless cat did nothing at the time, just sat and watched!! Had to kick the bin before I took the lid off! To be honest I don't mind rats that much if they are down the bottom of the garden and the local branch railway line runs at the bottom of my garden and they do seem to live round railway lines. My new cat is a killer though!!!!

Thats what i was worried about too, I have a dog that eats anything, plus i don't like killing anything!
xx

Ann
We had to call them several years ago and the man left blue coloured wheat in polythene bags tucked away behind shed, under fence etc.
At the time we had a rabbit which ran free in the garden. We kept it in it's hutch after pest man's visit then he returned to check no bait was left and rabbit was free to roam again.
Rabbit fine, rat was seen no more.

Gwyn

Garden waste and recycled paper, glass, cans, card and plastic collected avery week, wheelie bins once a fortnight but coming soo in our part of the world weekly waste food collections coming back because of the problem with vermin and smell last couple of summers

thanks will look into that.

Not sure I am keen on rat poison Stan, what about the birds and cats?

Stan
I think £30 is the going rate here if the council send someone to get rid of rats.

Gwyn

We have a fortnightly garden waste collection wheelie bin during the summer (March to November) which is free so far. That takes the hedge/shrub/tree trimmings.

Also have a compost or two which occasionally gets rats, even though we do not put cooked food in it, only grass cuttings, peelings, banana skins and suchlike.
We also have two, no three dogs, including a terrier, which does not seem to worry the rat (although come to think of it, I've not seen any signs of it for a few months).

n

I know thats what i thought, Stan! I only put uncooked veg peelings, grass and weeds and clippings in. I went on an allotment site where it was being discussed, as there were a lot of people having same problem. Apparently it is a myth and rats will eat anything! Solution... to bang the bin or stir up to disturb them as they don't like it! I havnt done it cos i dont want them jumping out at me!
xx