This topic causes so much distress and anger that it may be necessary to set up a Wheelie Bin Support Group. One of the underlying reasons for the anger may be the general tone of press releases from LB Hounslow, exemplified by the latest one from Amrit Mann, in which the general message is that we, the residents, are responsible for all that goes wrong with the waste and recycling collection service. There is no suggestion of how we can find ways of working together. Nor does the press release provide any statistical information which would inform the debate. For example, how many wheelie bins are reported as lost or stolen each year? Is it dozens, hundreds or thousands and what is the unit cost and annual cost to the Council of replacing wheelies? Councillor Samantha Christie has told this Forum that the charge will be discretionary but this is not mentioned in the press release. If there are serial wheelie bin abusers out there then they should be easy to identify from the frequency of their requests for replacements.However we do learn from the press release that our waste collection service will be now be provided by "Recycle 360 (R360), a subsidiary of Lampton 360". Apparently "Our new trading company will allow us to trade our services with new customers, reducing our reliance on conventional funding streams and empowering our staff to come up with new, creative business ideas". That is very reassuring to us all.I believe that in Liverpool 35,000 wheelies (almost 6,000 per annum) were lost or stolen between 2010 and 2015. (Those of us who have conjured up images of cars without wheels and hubcaps should be thoroughly ashamed of such thoughts).A fair number of local authorities require the householder to inform the police that their wheelie has disappeared and charge-free replacements will only be supplied when a crime incident number is given. Apart from asking whether this is the best use of police time this leads to some questions about insurance. I remember that when the bins were issued considerable emphasis was placed on the fact that they remained the property of LB Hounslow. This implies that LBH should be covered by insurance and I doubt if a resident could make a claim on their own insurance for something that does not belong to them. In any case the excess on household insurance would not make it worth claiming £50.How and why are the bins lost or stolen? My neighbour lost hers last year and she was told by LB Hounslow that it was probably gobbled up by the waste collection lorry, apparently a frequent occurrence. We are told that wheelie bins are popular places for villains to store the proceeds of robberies and they must be very useful for moving dead bodies. There is a market for stolen wheelies and at the moment there is at least one on eBay (£43.99) with the name of a district council clearly printed on the side. Other, more benign, uses of wheelies include water butts, accommodation for pets, and making fires to keep youths warm while they drink strong lager.When all is said and done we have to acknowledge the huge financial pressures that local authorities have to bear. However it seems unlikely that charging for wheelie bin replacement will lead to any measurable improvement in the funding of services such as education and children's services, housing, and adult social services. Such a poorly presented proposal serves only to drive another wedge between LB Hounslow and residents.
Jim Storrar ● 3217d