Why can Spelthorne Council refuse to take away my rubbish?

Question

Spethorne Council are refusing to collect my rubbish from the same spot where it has been collected from for the past 6+ year, without any problem. They tell me it is because they employ dustmen who are incapable of walking the 15ft to my front door, across an open unobstructed driveway, without either breaking a limb, or destroying some non existent valuable artifact. I think it is because they don't care a fig about the local populace, knowing that we don't have any choice but to comply with their ludicrous and totally unreasonable conditions of service. Conditions, by the way, that they arbitarally changed, without any consultation with the Council Tax payers of the Borough.

Answer 1

Stop your moaning and get a life. If one of the refuse collectors was to fall on your drive would you be willing to fork out the compensation? Are you insured for third party on your drive?

Don't blame your council, blame the health and safety at work act.
The binmen are not insured once they step on your drive, simple as that, and don't go blaming the binman either it has sod all to do with him, he is just following instructions from his manager. I have a few good friends that are binmen/refuse collectors and the amount of abuse they get is unreal.

If you feel that strong about it stand for election as a councilor and see if you can make any difference.

I don't believe anybody told you it was because the binman could not walk 15ft to your front door, as the average binman walks approx 15 miles a day. They do in Lancashire anyhow.

Answer 2

Spelthorne Rubbish Collection

Answer 3

How would the other council tax payers feel if the council agreed to make you a special case and collected it from the traditional spot instead of from outside your property?

Clearly it is only fair to apply the same rule to all households. Just because in your case there are no hazards and it is a short distance does not mean that this is the case throughout Spelthorne. Of course, if you're happy to pay the insurance premiums on behalf of the council to cover them against claims for damage to property from householders, and claims of injury from employees, then by all means why not try and negotiate.

Answer 4

I think you should beef more at the sort of people who would launch massive personal injury/damage suits through the civil courts if a council employee were involved in a genuine accident on their property, or indeed at the council employees who, if injured doing something they are not fully contracted and insured to do, bring suit against their employer. It is yet another product of the ever more ludicrous litigationist society for which we have so much to thank our friends in America.

Answer 5

They have done just the same around here, and it's uspetting a lot of Council Tax Payers.

I live in rural Lincolnshire, and whilst people had black bin bags they could pop them in the carboot and drop them on the roadside(up long farm lanes). Now they have replaced the black bags with Wheely bins (which you can't leave on the roadside), what are we supposed to do now? You can't get three wheely bins in your car boot!

All these cuts, just so that the civil servants can keep their fully funded final salary pension schemes. It makes my blood boil!

You should read what is happening in Scunthorpe. It's like a scene from Mad Max, with all the debris everywhere.

Answer 6

I have found that councils will in general do whatever they feel like

Answer 7

It is probabaly because some inane person complained about tresspassing or something just as ridiculous

Answer 8

Get on to your local councillor,they are supposed to represent you.