“Once upon a time people were asked for their views on Council plans and councillors really did think about the communities that voted. But now it seems they make the plans and we just put up or shut up.

Will that mean less tax payers money needed due to fortnightly collections?
No.. CDC need some way to paying wages and expenses.

From this link above - The committee was told that the move would save money as well as increase recycling habits and the council needed to do both.

I really would be nice if people could say "OK, fair play, from now on I will take my own rubbish to the tip so please do not charge me for bin collections".

Coun Knowles-Fitton said: “There is no reason to hold back. Change is necessary and inevitable.

Maybe a change of CDC management is also "necessary and inevitable"

"The chief executive has managed this very process in his previous authority – Oswestry Borough Council"

Has anyone else Google Mapped "Oswestry". It is not even the size of Skipton? It could be lost in South Craven never mind the dales!

The move will mean more fly tipping for sure! But then that is normally the farmers problem round here, not the council!”

Posted by Mark @ Cowlingweb | 27/08/2009 06:07:50

“I agree with Mark, some effective and meaningful community consultation would have been nice.

My real concern is that if Craven is intent on implementing fortnightly bin collections they're going to have to radically improve kerbside recycling. At present the only kerbside recycling offered to our house is a Paper collection once a month and according to the recycling team who I spoke to at length about this, there are no plans to include any kerbside scheme for botles or cans. Whilst we are in the fortunate position of being able to take our cans, bottles and plastics to a central recycling facility there are many in the village who cannot do so and increased kerbside recycling can only help in decreasing what's in our bins.”

Posted by Rachel | 27/08/2009 08:32:12

“Craven District Council DID ask the public for their views, and the public said they wanted to keep bin emptying weekly. They chose to ignore this, and go for fortnightly anyway. As far as their claims that this would increase recycling and decrease landfill usage in Craven, it might be tempting to ask why, if they're so bothered about Craven landfill rubbish, they rent out the Embsay site to Bradford Metro for their landfill.
If you are concerned about this, have you made your views known to your district councillor who voted in favour of fortnightly collections?”

Posted by Alan | 27/08/2009 19:56:47

“I do believe that we Council Tax payers should be consulted AND our views taken into consideration. However there are many people around Cowling who never recycle anything, it all just gets thrown into wheelie bins and then becomes someone else's problem. When we moved here 3 years ago we enquired to CDC about a blue recycling wheelie bin and one was promptly delivered to us. That gets filled up by us every 2 weeks. Our rubbish wheelie bin hardly gets half full each week, so I have no problem with fornightly rubbish collections if it encourages those who currently don't consider recycling to be an important thing to think again.
Having said that, there are only 2 of us in our household and I can understand the frustration from larger households who produce far more rubbish each week than us. The only recycling that doesn't get collected from us is plastics and plastic bags, but you can recycle your plastic at Cross Hills and virtually every supermarket now has a facility for recycling plastic bags.
I suppose in the end it comes down to what lengths you are willing to go to, to recycle as much as possible of your rubbish. I don't think that money paid by Council Tax Payers for waste collection should be used for other things though.”

Posted by Denise | 28/08/2009 09:34:55

“We don't even have recycling bins as they say wagons can't get down the road, Bin wagon can on a friday. And the recycle wagon can alternate Mondays! Think i've lost the plot on that one.”

Posted by Sam G | 28/08/2009 15:00:20

“I dont really understand what the point of having an elected council who ignore the will of their electorate is.

if they dont respect the views of the majority they no longer have a mandate and should be disbanded. That would save some cash.”

Posted by Ian | 28/08/2009 15:20:30

“This scheme is not due to start until January 2010, and who knows? Perhaps if enough people make their feelings known to their district councillors then there might just be a change of policy.
The district councillor for Cowling voted in favour of fortnightly collections, if you prefer weekly ones, then Cllr. Ady Green is the one to contact.
As to where the money is going, Craven District Council is presently spending more than the total amount of council tax it receives on wages, and it has a pensions debt of £80,000 per employee. Perhaps they'll go for monthly collections next?
”

Posted by Alan | 28/08/2009 16:27:09

“Please fill in survey on my website - I hope to put some meaningful consultation results in front of C/EX and Leader of Craven District Council. In spite of efforts to alter vote for fortnightly collections to get a full consultation or even a trial period - it was ignored by ruling group at CDC. So much for being in touch with the electorate!
FILL IN SURVEY AT councillormarkwheeler.mycouncillor.org.uk

”

Posted by Mark Andrew Wheeler | 28/08/2009 21:59:05

“Too many different rules - depending on whether bin wagon can or cannot access houses, streets, farms - and some houses/farms (who pay lots council tax) do not want the large wagon churning up their own roads anyway, so some don't have any bins at all, just leave rubbish at end of road in sacks. Some have brown bins, some don't want brown bins, some have blue bins, some don't want them etc. etc. Dad has large blue bin for paper and it is only ever 1/4 full! Larger families' bins will be overflowing in 2 weeks - and will bin men be taking extra bags left at side of bins now- hope so. Can remember the days when bin men would come into the house and lift out old TV's etc. and put them on lorry for you. Not to mention bins being left out all over the streets, an eyesore? Still not found out what to do with old mattresses etc. - do not wish to pay for removal.”

Posted by Joan | 28/08/2009 23:39:29

“Alan,

Sorry for my ignorance but i do not have the elequence or inside knowledge of the council workings that it seems you have. could you put together a template letter and let us know where to send it for maximum effect, I'm sure others would also use the template.

All the best

ian”

Posted by Ian Long | 29/08/2009 00:23:48

“P.S. apologies - do not wish to knock bin men who do an excellent job - working at top speed to get the work done, but they have to stick to orders. Already sent my own written comments as above in to Craven D. Council Env. Health some weeks ago - don't think it is a lot of good us all moaning on here really?”

Posted by Joan | 29/08/2009 11:29:15

“Interesting letters on this subject in Craven Herald this week.”

Posted by Joan | 29/08/2009 11:45:18

“Ian, the use of a template letter is not the best way to tackle these problems. It has been my experience that the only way to force CDC to listen is via the media, and by sending in individual complaints.
The first port of call in my opinion is the Craven Herald, which now has a good and independent editor. Send in your letters, which can be done via e-mail, and copy those e-mails to your district councillor, and to environmental health at Craven District Council.
Also fill in Mark Wheeler's consultation as above, Mark opposed this change unless and until there was full and proper public consultation followed, if necessary, by a trial period.
Addresses are:
Peter.Greenwood@Skipton.Newsquest.co.uk
environmentalhealth@cravendc.gov.uk
adygreen@msn.com

”

Posted by Alan | 29/08/2009 12:05:26

“Dear cowling web,

I have just sent this to the three addresses suggested by alan, I do feel so empowered, not that it will make a blind bit of difference!


Dear Peter

There has been quite a heated thread on the cowling web message board regarding the forthcoming introduction of fortnightly bin collections. it has been suggested that we should voice our opinions to you as a correspondent of the craven herald.

Please see my rant below.

I would like to voice my absolute dismay in hearing that Craven Council have decided that, against public opinion they are to scrap weekly bin collections as a money saving measure. I’m sure that councillors may dress this up in a way that paints them in a environmental light, but at its core make no mistake this is a money saving measure.

In recent years councils, in fact not only councils every level of public service seem to have forgotten who they are elected to serve, and that the electorate expect some basic services to be sacred, weekly bin collections are one and possibly the most important of all the services provided by the council.

Its not too long ago that bin men (Or Recycling technicians, or whatever ridiculous politically correct job title they have nowadays ) used to come in to your garden, collect your bin, empty it and place it back where they got it from. This was a luxury and I can understand why this stopped, but now your bin needs to be outside at 7am sharp on collection day and sometimes, I’m sure like many others, I can forget to put the bin out. If this happens under the new regime waste could be left for a month to fester before collection. I’m all for recycling but at the moment the recycling provision is clearly not good enough to reduce the amount of waste from my house, we can only recycle paper, cardboard and compostable waste. If glass and plastic was added to this it would make a considerable difference to the volume of waste placed into our main bin.

Even if the recycling provision is fit for purpose, the fact is that leaving festering food waste in your bins for a fortnight is going to lead to smells and other unpleasantness. I’m not a microbiologist but I know this is going to be a bad thing.

There’s probably a report which concludes that this is perfectly ok but, we all know that these ‘Reports’ the council and government use to say that it’s a good idea stop people doing X And Y or tax people who eat cheese because its bad for their health, and really we would be doing them a favour, are just a smokescreen of accountability. Their remits set so tight at the outset that the only conclusion they can reach is the one the government / council want to promote anyway.

And what voice do we have to make a change to this policy? We can vote for councillors every four years, but it seems that unpopular decisions such as this do always seem to surface at a time when elections have just taken place, or is that just me who thinks this?

The bottom line of this seems to be that. The council have decided in grounds of cost to introduce a scheme which is clearly opposed by the majority of the electorate, and have given no option for consultation or negotiation. The electorate give the council a mandate to run local services by the will of the electorate, which in this case clearly differs to the planned actions of the council. so in my eyes if the council proceed with the plan they are proving that they are not fit for purpose. What’s the point of having an elected council if they don’t actually listen to the wishes of the population they serve?

Ian Long

Cowling


”

Posted by Ian long | 02/09/2009 11:46:00

“I have recieved 2 personal replies from cllr Green, and have responded to both of them.

I have decided not to publish his responses or my replies, as he seems not to like this website and certain contributors who use this website.

Ian”

Posted by Ian Long | 02/09/2009 20:58:58

“We recycle - But still fill our Bin every week .Its all going to go pear shaped ! - Rubbish every where - people will only start dumping in the wonderful countryside we have around us - What an earth are the muppets in Skipton (that us the public voted in) thinking of ?? The clean up will cost more a bin wagon once a week I am sure.
Also does that all mean where in line for a council tax rebate after all its a 50% service cut that we pay for ?? I think that we should hold a demonstration and get the press involved and raise this issue”

Posted by Scott | 02/09/2009 21:34:35

“Ian, I am sure I could put another take on the same reasons, people then would be able to make their own minds up about why cllr Green does not like the website and certain contributors. Thankfully for the website it gets over 40,000 unique visitors a month who do seem to like the website and without the contributors the website would be pointless.

What is really nice to read above is that you have received 2 emails in response to your emails. Sadly, I am still waiting for a response to an email that I sent to cllr Green last Friday. Simply asking "It is true that you voted in favour of fortnightly bin collections ?". Having not receiving a reply from cllr Green by Tuesday I requested the information direct from CDC and I now suspect the main reason for cllr Green not replying to my email was due to the fact that it is true that he did vote in favour of fortnightly bin collections. Another reason cllr Green will take a dislike to the website is my question, was voting for the fortnightly bin collections a true representation of the thoughts and opinions of the people of the village on the subject?

Did cllr Green hold a public meeting? I was away from the 7th until the 19th of August so I might have missed any notices posted in the village?

If there was no meeting to ask the people of Cowling, What else does cllr Green feel is not an important issue to ask the people of Cowling when he is casting his vote in Skipton in the future?

I may have got it wrong but should the district councillor of a district not listen to what the people of that district have to say and then work for what they want?

cllr Green is very welcome to answer the question above and if he feels that this is not the place to post his answers, then he is welcome to email me personally.”

Posted by Mark @ Cowlingweb | 03/09/2009 03:23:05

“I think that fortnightly rubbish collections are inevitable now, and it's no bad thing in my opinion, because we all have to recycle more as time goes on and should have less 'other' rubbish.
Joan's point about the taking away of extra bags left by the bin is important, one hopes this will happen. Another issue is, what about those of us who are away frequently, we will certainly miss collections sometimes by not putting the bin out, so that will be a 4 weeks between collections!!”

Posted by JohnH | 03/09/2009 20:48:06

“I live out in the country side and it is amazing what you see dump. A few months back some kind person dumped nearly 15 bags of rubbish in a farmers field, For him to pay the council to move it. Why? It is bad enough that the council is charging to get rid out white goods now. Wont be long before they are dumped in the country as well.Just like Scott has said.”

Posted by sam owl | 08/09/2009 16:17:50

“Although i am not a linguist, it appears to me that this sam owl is a pseudonym , one of several, used by a resident of our village who has a grossly inflated opinion of his own worth. The grammar, spelling errors , style, easily show who it is.”

Posted by chris | 08/09/2009 21:28:53

“I can say without a doubt that "sam owl" in the past has only ever posted under the name "sam," no other name, and only added the "owl" bit a couple of weeks ago since there were other people also called "sam" posting. Sam even contacted me to let me know that would be the new username and explained why. Like yourself Chris I know personally most of the people who live in the village that post on here and have got to know many of the ones who post from outside the village including overseas. There has only ever been one time in the past when someone tried to fool me in to thinking they were different people using different name and email addresses. I had worked it out within a couple of hours of it starting but allowed it to continue to see what the outcome was. "I did it to show that the system was not fool proof" was the answer. Trust me Chris, there is only 1 sam owl posting on the message board!

Personally .. I wish everyone would put their real full names when posting, but also understand that people are worried about posting their thoughts and opinions in case of some kind of recrimination.

Personally .. I wish everyone would put their real full names when posting, but also understand that people are also worried about posting their thoughts and opinions in case of some kind of recrimination.”

Posted by Mark @ Cowlingweb | 08/09/2009 23:08:51

“Thank your Mark for setting the record striaght for me. I am sorry this has caused upset for some people. Sorry Chris that i upset you. Also i am not a male as you seem to think i am. It's seem to me when i post an a view i upset someone or it is taken the wrong. I have lived in the village all my live and things never change. I will try not to post anything in the future. Thank again Mark for posting what you did about the coment.”

Posted by sam owl | 09/09/2009 21:15:16

“Sam. This is going off topic. I am hoping to be fishing tomorrow, but please message me via msn tomorrow evening after 10pm.”

Posted by Mark @ Cowlingweb | 09/09/2009 23:52:23

“Does Cllr Green exist? Only he's never consulted ME - directly or otherwise - about anything. Does he know where Cowling is? Perhaps he's like an absentee landlord, only an absentee councillor. Maybe he's even now living in a small cottage in the Dordogne, and tossing coins over decisions affecting this village.

I didn't vote for this geezer. And I'm afraid those who did are probably regretting it. He has no idea of basic public relations, and has all the trappings of the Lord of the Manor in his attitude of contempt. I fear that he will do nothing but harm to this village...”

Posted by Greywolf | 14/09/2009 15:50:27

“Took a break from posting last week (well I tried) - wish to confirm that Sam Owl is not who you might think Chris - though the one you probably do refer to is quite easy to tell anyway? I was concerned we might have 2 or even 3 "Sams" posting on here so told Sam O. and we got it sorted - or so we thought - pls. don't give up Sam, looks like a misunderstanding.”

Posted by Joan | 14/09/2009 22:41:50

“It appears that our councillor has voted in contradiction to his own parties stated policy

see link below

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1063096/Camerons-conference-pledge-bring-weekly-bin-rounds.html”

Posted by ian long | 16/09/2009 19:34:41