Forum Topic

Leaves

Has anyone had leaves cleared up on their street yet? Pretty much every other London borough I've been into recently seems to have had an effort at clearing up leaves but nothing seems to have happened around West Ealing yet. With my wife 8 months pregnant I've made several efforts to sweep up leaves before they turn our pavement into an ice rink, but with all the storms and windy weather recently all my efforts have been rapidly undone. I can't see anything on the council website, anyone got any ideas of when they usually come around?

Philip Slater ● 3729d15 Comments

They've been into our road today too, bagged and removed all the pavement leaves. Bravo EC.

Philip Slater ● 3721d

When I was in west ealing resident,we cleaned up the leaves as best as we could ourselves and the (nice) neighbours with garden waste wheelie bins were more than happy for them to be used for the leaf disposal.A low tech solution.

Harry Jay ● 3722d

Well a 10 strong crew were sweeping up the leaves in The Avenue this afternoon.

Philip Coe ● 3722d

http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/letter-hope-for-use-of-street-swept-leaves-in-compost/There seems to be some movement in the situation since the EA forbade the Councils to compost street leaves.

Philippa Bond ● 3722d

Thanks Philippa, good to know they can be put to use and hopefully recoup the cost of collection

Philip Slater ● 3723d

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/westminster-city-council-sweep-up-10494929

Philippa Bond ● 3723d

I forgot to mention a wormery!  I love them and some Councils have these discounted - unfortunately never used to be Ealing.  I'd always recommend a layered one nowadays.  The wheelie bin type was difficult to deal with. I'm emptying it bucket by bucket until I dispose of it.Occasionally I have caught sight of leaf collection. I remember seeing a noisy machine going along the pavement and I also remember seeing some workers with brushes pushing leaves under the hedge by the Lammas enclosure tennis courts.

Philippa Bond ● 3728d

Thanks Philippa, I've filled a few green sacks and my worm farm, but it's just the sheer volume of leaves. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the council made extra cleanups around this time of year specifically to get rid of leaves. I've seen trucks going around Hammersmith & Fulham packed full of leaves, so assumed this was a common initiative.

Philip Slater ● 3728d

Actually you don't need to have a composter.An easy way to compost leaves is to put them into a black sack with holes in it and then leave it out of sight for the leaves to rot down.  They need to be damp.LBE offer a discounted composter.  You can find info from the website:http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200490/garden_waste_and_composting/289/composting

Philippa Bond ● 3728d

If you have garden waste collection there is nothing to stop you putting some out for collection in it. This is what a lot of us used to do before it was a charged for service. There was a lot more community spirit about this.Or if you have a composter you could compost some.  Choose the cleaner ones!

Philippa Bond ● 3728d

With the wet and windy weather of the last few days even a daily clean would not keep on top of clearing the leaves.  So a sense of perspective is required. I have seen small gangs of operatives working around Ealing but how do you sensibly, and economically, resource a need that is limited in timescale? Like snow clearance really.

Philip Coe ● 3728d

http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200508/street_care_and_cleaning/220/street_cleansingShould be cleaned the day after the recycling and waste collection.

Philippa Bond ● 3728d

Hi Philip, we are in Woodville Gardens, W5.

Elizabeth Anna Thaddeus ● 3729d

Thanks Elizabeth. Do you mind me asking whereabouts you are? We have a sweep up after the bins have been collected on Wednesdays, but they have yet to touch any of the leaves on the pavements.

Philip Slater ● 3729d

Hi Philip, Maybe we're just lucky but our street in Ealing tends to have a weekly sweep.

Elizabeth Anna Thaddeus ● 3729d