Forum Topic

Let’s make a list ...

... of jobs which could be tackled between elections...

Sarah Felstead ● 7191d13 Comments

Aw, look come on...surely the loss of the gusset in the garden recycling refuse bags, has to be agreed by a strategic person - so who is responsible for this decision?  Or has it been done on the quiet?  When I buy my bags don't I have to be told about the change in quality?  Is somebody snaffling the extra plastic?  Maybe this is a deterrent designed to wind the scheme down?  Who do I write to about this one?(forgive me, but it is a lovely sunny bank holiday and the developers are banging drilling and hammering away - no respect for community quiet time - saving ££££ the order of the day - I have to figure out if I get every one in the street to fill in a line on this noise complaint form, or if I have to fill in a line every half hour - or ... - it gets to you, y'know)

Sarah Felstead ● 7181d

'nag over the end of the pot' bag, even.

Sarah Felstead ● 7181d

... well I never!  The fresh delivery of white recycling bags are smaller - and a bit more flimsey!We use one of those garden pots into which we drop the cuttings, as we potter.  When it is filled we then hold the nag over the end of the pot and in everything goes - well this morning, it ended up all over the tootsies (where have I heard that before?).  Why on earth have they made the bags smaller?:-(Can we have the larger bags back PUH-leese!

Sarah Felstead ● 7181d

..has seen an increase in graffiti.  There is quite a boring display of ‘bragging tags’ which can been seen quite clearly by all the cars in the morning jam, approaching Gillette corner.  Can the wall be cleaned?  Is there a need for some extra lighting along there?  There has been a small number of instances of fly tipping along there and tonight we saw a huge pile of dumped tyres on the pavement, about where the phone box used to be.

Sarah Felstead ● 7188d

Sorry, chaps.  I did not mean that the Council provide them free, as they did before!  What I mean is for them to provide a source of ones which disintegrate in the same way as they provide the white garden refuse sacks - I ring a number and pay by card and a pile of plastic (environmentally friendly) sacks are delivered.  I do have an issue about the use of plastic sacks and would prefer to use a wheelie bin, but if we are to continue with the plastic sacks, why are we using ordinary plastic not environmentally friendly plastic, to go into the waste system?I also do not have a problem with the foxes as we put our bags out in the morning - but you always get some people who insist on placing them out the night before and then complain about the foxes.  The problem we are having here is the rats - apparently (I have it on second repeat from the person who rang the Council) the developers are leaving drains open while they work, and for possibly longer than they should (the drainage to a bungalow in the garden must take a while to dig?  ... ... meow) and this is the cause of the 'rat activity' we have been experiencing over the past few weeks.  I have had to place the bags in the garage because of rats eating their way into the bags, and several times I have taken the bags off to the tip, before the collection day.Don't some areas of the Borough have a very early collection so have to place their bags outside overnight - or get up with the planes (a bit different to just being woken up by them) to put them out in time?I find myself traipsing around for bags and after finding a supply of strong ones (one which doesn’t split and cover the old tootsies with the contents, is fine by me) they then stop selling them, or make them thinner!  The present ones we are using we bought (in bulk) after finding them in Robert Dyas at a reasonable price, but they are not biodegradable…. sigh.

Sarah Felstead ● 7190d

JimYou are quite right to say that people leaving bags out for collection too early is not the fault of the Council.  But asking people to pay for them is IMHO a retrograde step for any local authority which seeks to discourage people from dumping waste.The excuses given for not providing wheelie bins in high-density areas such as The Maltings are rather poor.  "They attract graffiti" and "they encourage people not to recycle" are two which I have been given.Graffiti artists will always find something to spray on.  I don't see why, in an area where walls are to be seen in every direction, they would have a particular compulsion to vandalise the bins.  And if they are hidden away as the ones on our estate are then, frankly, who cares?  They are only bins.As for recycling, this would only be true if facilities were not provided alongside the bins.  Again on our estate we have both, and most people seem to manage to put their recycling into the recycling boxes, and their rubbish into the rubbish bins.  We are clever people here in Isleworth.In my view the withdrawal of free bin bags sent the wrong message from a borough which likes to flaunt its environmentalist credentials.  It would have better to have considered ways of discouraging abuse, such as limiting the number of bags given out to each resident.I also believe that a harder line should be taken against the selfish minority of residents who do insist on placing their bags out onto the streets several days in advance of the next collection.  Especially those who place them outside other people's homes because they don't want the resultant debris outside their own (you'd be amazed by some of the stories that one gets told whilst out canvassing!).

Phil Andrews ● 7190d

Years ago the Local Authority issued black plastic dustbins  with lids to all houses in my area ..and no doubt other areas too. These dustbins are heavy duty..and very durable. My neighbour and I still have ours and we both put our waste in Black Bags which we fit into the dustbin each week.This means that our plastic sacks are not on view to the local foxes..but are secure in the dustbins.  The system works ideally for us.To leave piles of sacks on the curbside...thus arousing wildlife's attention..is..in my view..not the fault of the Council. By the way suitable plastic sacks cost little and you can buy direct from the suppliers....visit www. polybags etc. they are in Greenford.I read the article in today's paper and noted that the free distribution of plastic sacks was a "system abused" and thus discontinued. And I agree.

Jim Lawes ● 7191d

SarahRead the front page lead article in this week's Brentford, Chiswick & Isleworth Times.

Phil Andrews ● 7191d

..oh, and they dont have to be black and could be covered with any advertising to keep costs down ...

Sarah Felstead ● 7191d

If we are still going with the black dustbin bags - I would like to be able to buy recyclable ones from the council, which disintegrate in the same way the plastic garden refuse bags disintegrate. If somebody was very clever they would be coated in a smell that the foxes/cats are not keen on … …

Sarah Felstead ● 7191d

... It may just end up as a list of promises in next years campaign letters - but we must be positive.Chin up chaps.

Sarah Felstead ● 7191d

...but the trick is to elect somebody who will be active between elections.  Otherwise this all becomes rather academic.

Phil Andrews ● 7191d

The passing point in the north end of Wood lane is frequently occupied by parked cars.  Often I have seen a van parked there, and a couple of times I have seen a van parked there, offloading something into the bushes.If this passing place is blocked, cars are more likely to run along the pavement and it is very difficult to negotiate past a bus.  Can the passing place be restricted to just that, with no parking allowed?I have very nearly had the side of my car knocked off by a speeding bus, a short while ago, because I stayed on the road and didn’t jump out of his way onto the pavement.  There were two small cars parked in the passing place at the time, which is where the bus driver would have been…

Sarah Felstead ● 7191d