Email from the Conservation Team but applies to all areas
The Conservation Team have had a number of emails concerning new arrangements by Hackney in relation to the provision of wheeled bins in certain areas, including some Conservation Areas and listed buildings.
The purpose of this email is to explain aspects of the new arrangements and to indicate what alternatives exist and how they may be requested. I would be grateful if you could circulate this to your members and interested parties. Full details of the changes, with Frequently Asked Questions, are available at this web page: https://hackney.gov.uk/waste-changes
The Council has declared a climate emergency and is also under obligations to the national government and to the Mayor of London (in his environmental strategy) to reduce activities which contribute to climate change. In terms of waste, this involves, among other things, steps to reduce non-recyclable waste and increase recycling rates generally. A public consultation on the proposed changes took place in Autumn 2019. The changes affect only ‘street level’ properties, which are generally houses, or houses that have been converted into flats, and which currently have green sack recycling services. Other households, including flats above shops or properties with communal bins, typically including estates and new build blocks will not see any changes to waste collections. The new system involves
1) provision for weekly food waste and recycling collection;
2) a move to fortnightly collection of non-recyclable waste and
3) the provision of wheeled bins for non-recyclable waste.
The general expectation is that the new wheeled bins for waste will be kept in the front garden of the property. The FAQs at https://hackney.gov.uk/waste-changes suggests that: “If there isn’t space at the front of your property, we would expect you to consider all options to keep your bin elsewhere on your property, such as in a rear garden. As a last resort, and only in unique circumstances where there is no space to store a bin on your property, bins may have to be stored on the pavement.”
We are aware from anecdotal discussions with some residents that there are some properties where this is problematic. At first glance the most difficult situations appear to be where the following three factors exist, particularly if combined
1) properties with extremely small front gardens or no front garden (e.g. where the door opens directly onto the street or where the front garden consists of only a lightwell to basement accommodation);
2) terraced properties with no access to the rear other than through the house and
3) properties where the main entrance and ground floor are raised up steps. In these circumstances there is the potential for the wheeled bins to become an unsightly fixture on the pavement or in the streetscape of Conservation Areas and around listed buildings.
The purpose of this email is to assist residents in accessing alternative options which are available, which can include:
- The household keeps the wheeled bin in the rear garden (using it as a refuse store) and bringing out the sacks on collection day. The amount would be limited to 3 sacks per fortnight.
- The household requests the Council to take away the wheeled bin away completely and bring out the sacks on collection day. The amount would be limited to 3 sacks per fortnight.
- The household can request smaller round top dustbins with 90l in capacity. Two can be provided per property, equivalent to the 180 litre wheelie bins, or one if people can manage with less capacity.
- The Council continues to offer assisted collections to elderly or disabled residents who can’t move their bin, following an assessment.
I have discussed the matter in some detail with Ms Sam Kirk, the Environmental Services Strategy Manager and Mr Ander Zabala, the Recycling Manager.
Some of the alternative arrangements above have been put in place in Beck Road, Fremont and Warneford.
Please contact waste.strategy@hackney.gov.uk to request the alternative arrangements.
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