“Our district councillor has posted the following on his Blog - so that there is no mistake, I have copied the entire item from this public blog, and it is as follows:

“I am the district ward rep for Cowling, I voted to support alternative weekly bin collections and increased kerbside recycling, this means you get one bin emptied one week and the other the next, in simple terms we have to seperate our waste into two bins, easy as that and remember this is NOT fortnightly bin collections at all, you get a bin emptied every week. You will also be able to save paper, cardboard, plastic, bottles and keep them seperate to go for recycling. The land fill site has 3 years approx left to run so when thats full we have no where else to put it so we have to act now and increase recycling targets. Any areas that are not suitable for alternative weekly collections will be closely looked at and addressed accordingly. Anyone wishing to ask me a question regarding this issue please feel free to do so.”

Now I'm no mathematician, but at present many residents of Cowling get their dustbins emptied weekly, with their blue bins emptied fortnightly, and if they have garden waste then they too get emptied fortnightly. So over a four week period that means there are 8 bin collections, four for waste, and four for recyclables.
The new system as outlined by Cllr. Green above means that there will be half that number, and I'm also at a loss as to how collecting our non-recycled rubbish fortnightly means that there will be less. Sure it will smell and fester more, but I don't think it will evaporate. Perhaps the flies and bluebottles will eat it? Or if it spills out into the street maybe the rat population will aid in its dispersal?
As for the landfill site at Skibeden, this is organised by Yorwaste, and presently handles much of the waste from Bradford. According to an answer given in Hansard, that site is within 50 metres of a dwelling, yet is allowed to handle up to 20 tons of asbestos per day. If it only handled the waste from Craven, how many years would it then last? A lot more than three, I think!
And does anyone think that any difference made in Craven's rubbish amount will make any difference when compared with the outflow from Bradford?”

Posted by Alan | 15/09/2009 11:04:38

“Our blue bin is emptied once a month, which at the moment is ok. Isn't that the same for everyone else in Cowling? But when the fortnightly green bin emptying comes into effect, we are going to struggle.With 2 children our bin is full after a few days!

I did email the council on why, unlike Skipton for example, we do not have the full blue recycling bins for plastic/glass etc. but they never replied. Perhaps if we get this facility, it may not be that bad, but I'm not holding out any hope. So in that case, I'll either be forced to go out of my way to do my own recycliong, or have rubbish bags festering outside.

I'm all for recycling, don't get me wrong, but I don't see after paying my council tax, and suddenly having a service reduced, I should then have to burden the cost in terms of time and money to get myself to the tip/recycling centre every week because we no longer have the service we once had.

Time will tell I guess.....”

Posted by Dave Queen | 15/09/2009 21:13:59

“
Alan,

like you I'm no mathematician. But I have checked out http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/Craven/News/posting489.htm
there you'll find a fairly detailed summary of the waste collection that Councilor Green voted for as our ward's representative on Craven District Council.

here is an extract cut and pasted (in part)

The new collections will run as follows:

Alternate weekly collection of domestic waste
Alternate weekly collection of paper and cards in new bags to be introduced
Monthly collection of glass, cans and plastic mixed together in the blue bins
Alternate weekly collection of garden waste (no change to current service)
Weekly collection of commercial waste (no change)

so in a month we'll get 2 green bin collections, 2 paper and card collections, 2 garden waste collections and 1 plastic, glass and can collections.

Like I say I'm no mathematician, but I can tell you that 2 + 2+ 2 + 1 = 7, not 4

That includes a collection of plastic, glass and cans, that I'm not currently offered at my address.

Apparently Plastic, Glass and Cans account for approximately 20 - 22% of the non-recycled waste that Craven district handles. By offering a service that allows everybody to recycle that amount we should see an equivalent reduction in our green bins and therefore landfill.

Dave Rowe”

Posted by Dave Rowe | 16/09/2009 01:26:55

“Many thanks for that Dave, it's appreciated. I was working from the information given by our district councillor above, and maybe misunderstood it, although the phrase used "You get a bin emptied every week" seemed fairly plain!
As a quick check on potential problems I wandered into Netto yesterday, to see how expensive disposable nappies are. They come out at around 10p each, probably cheaper than using Terry alternatives, along with the hassle they cause.
Now although it's been many a year since my children were in them, we used to get through around 40 nappy changes/week per child, and I don't think we can force people away from them, so someone with say two babies is going to use around 80/week - or 160/fortnight.
If they miss a collection, for whatever reason, that means somewhere around 320 nappies will be needing disposed of, is that feasible? Is even the fortnightly 160 feasible?
And heaven help you if you have triplets:-)
I approve of recycling, and store then take my plastics to Bradford where they do have recycling ability. I'm sure too that many others do the same, especially with glass, so whilst I've proven that I'm not a mathematician could it be that the figure of 20/22% is a bit optimistic?
I own a caravan site, and at Bank Holidays when the bins are full my bottle banks tend to get absolutely anything thrown in them, which I then have to retrieve. What will be the result for recycling should householders decide that rubbish may safely be hidden in the middle of say garden waste?
As far as commercial waste is concerned then I agree that there is no change except one - the charge for waste for caravan sites, guest houses, and hotels - if you use CDC - has almost trebled in three years.
No doubt we shall all know a great deal more on the subject in 12 months' time, especially if we do get a hot summer!”

Posted by Alan | 16/09/2009 11:09:34

“In one area have seen yellow bins for nappies (and similar). How on earth are we going to sort out what to put out on which days? Are all residents going to have the same rules - not so at present? Perhaps we should all go back to burning as much as poss. on coal/peat/wood/cinders fires- then we had the the coal places, the ashes and ash pits which had to be emptied. Older residents will remember the "other" collection before the water toilets - not v. nice.”

Posted by Joan | 16/09/2009 16:55:35

“I would like to know if we are getting extra bins, inserts for bins, bags etc? When will we be getting them? I'm all for re-cycling and I would like one of those yellow bins that Joan has mentioned for nappies. I have only lived in the village for a short time but I have a green bin (houshold waste) a blue bin (paper, no cardboard) and we have a compost bin which I don't use as we have a yard not a garden and no where to put the compost. There are no inserts for any of the bins for glass, cans etc. So will we be getting them? I wonder how much they will cost?”

Posted by Sam G | 23/09/2009 21:21:40

“Hi Sam,
I too have a blue bin, it came with 2 inserts one for cans and one for glass, so the council should supply these for you free of charge, i put cardboard in my blue bin, what they dont like is the tape, so as long as that is removed then its ok. I too have a brown bin and use that for the contents of the rabbits hutch when its cleaned out.
”

Posted by Tracey | 24/09/2009 13:31:56

“I think that recycling in Cowling very much depends on where you are in the village - I have a blue bin but no inserts and have spoken at length with Craven about this but have been told there are no plans to introduce the inserts into our part fo the village. I think it very much depends on vehicular access and where you are in the village.”

Posted by Rachel | 24/09/2009 16:07:16

“It would be interesting to know how many people have the bin inserts in the village? After all all the blue bins look the same size so i cannot see where their problem lies in supplying them. If the council want to introduce collections every 2 weeks how are we expected to recycle if they do not supply us with the equipment to do so.!!!
Maybe we should stick at weekly collections until everyone has the correct bins etc??”

Posted by Tracey | 25/09/2009 07:38:22

“Public Meetings in the area - our's is 2nd Nov. Yellow bins for nappies etc. were not in our area, but a good idea would think for those who need them. Am grateful for our brown bin for garden rubbish emptied fortnightly - Dad has garden but no brown bin - he has large blue bin for paper- only ever 1/4 full! Green bin weekly- never full either. We have brown and green bins- sent blue one back, don't want it and never did!!?Sick of being told what to do with rubbish- sorry - BUT would like to be told what to do with old mattresses etc. as I am not paying to have them removed! Relative who pays lots of council tax has NO BINS AT ALL just takes everything - and I mean everything- to end of road and they take the lot! So just where is the sense in all this? And who has paid for all these bins in the first place? What an eyesore they look all over the place?”

Posted by Joan | 25/09/2009 22:48:03

“Hi Joan,
There is a fantastic website called freecycle, all you do is post an ad what your offering and someone will answer your ad and come and pick it up, my parents recently got rid of an old mattress and i have given numerous things that i would of only taken to the tip. As they say ''one mans rubbish is another mans treasure''
You can also ask for things, have a look, it's well worth it.
the web address is
www.keighleyfreecycle.org
”

Posted by Tracey | 26/09/2009 09:04:11