Concern as problems continue with bin lifts

Concern as problems continue with bin lifts

31 October 2012

A LOCAL councillor has blamed reduced working hours for refuse collectors for several failed bin collections in the Newcastle area in recent weeks.

Patrick Clarke believes the council’s decision to reduce refuse staff to a four-day week is causing an overload of the service, leading to bins remaining unemptied when lorries are unable to complete their rounds.

Most recently, he said residents of Corrigs Avenue, Warrenview Court and Larchfield Park and surrounding areas were disappointed when their bins were not emptied on their allocated days of Tuesday and Wednesday.

He said Dundrum residents had experienced similar disappointment on Fridays, which is their allocated collection day.

Mr. Clarke said news that more collections were not carried out on time last week proved the four-day working week was not adequate. He said he believed it was also affecting the morale of staff affected by cuts in their hours.

“People in Newcastle and Dundrum are frustrated by the poor quality service they are receiving due to the four-day working week and other factors that mean bins are not always being collected on time,” he said.

Newcastle man Oliver King, who lives at Corrigs Avenue, said bins in his area had not been collected on time on at least six occasions since the four-day working week was introduced last spring.

He said the problems were particularly affecting pensioners, many of whom repeatedly checked their bins to see if they had been emptied.

He said this was a nuisance and impractical for many and was also unfair on the district’s ratepayers, who he said are paying for a normal service.

“This is not a major inconvenience but the point I am making is that pensioners who take their bins out on Monday nights for the collection the next day are having to keep an eye on their bins all day to see if they are being emptied or not,” he said.

“If they are not emptied they have to be left on the street and on occasions they are knocked over causing a mess.

“I have tried to speak to the council about this but I am not having any joy. The issues keep arising although they are intermittent.

“In my opinion the staff are not able to fulfil their rounds on a four day week.”

A spokesperson for Down Council said a vehicle breakdown was to blame for the failed collection in Newcastle last week.

“We unfortunately had a vehicle breakdown, and as a consequence, the collection round could not be completed on the allocated day,” she said.

“We have new vehicles on order and are doing all we can to ensure we maintain and improve the service in the mean time.”