Forum Topic

Hounslow starts to charge for DIY waste at dumps should we be worried in Ealing?

This weekend residents of Hounslow taking DIY waste to the Hounslow re-cycling centres were being given leaflets that Hounslow has started charging for DIY related waste like timber tiles baths etc brought by residents will be charged. Is this going to happen in Ealing next?The man who was handing out the leaflets to dump visitors said that he had had three bad arguments that day already with angry residents.

Peter Cumberpatch ● 4738d12 Comments

I agree - the forum layout is rubbish.You have to have the visual acuity of a golden eagle to spot which message flows from which sometimes.I was responding to the message at 11/04/13 12:38:00 from Ben Owen.I agree that your style of commenting does help to remove ambiguity but I am too lazy - preferring instead to suffer in silence and hope that one day the forum software will be upgraded.

Tony Colliver ● 4737d

Re  I do not see how your observations impact        xxxxxxxxxxxxxx    Tony, I wish you would make  clear to whom and what you reply to. This post, excellent as usual,  could be regarded as responding to my last post  but which I think is not the case. The layout of this Forum does not make it easy to follow who is saying what to whom, hence I reply in the manner I do.  Tony

Tony Price ● 4737d

Re  the bloke that used to man the thing was quite possibly the grumpiest miserable old git in all of Christendom            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx that made me laugh, until I realised there probably ain't too much of that  " dom " in that neck of the woods these days?

Tony Price ● 4738d

You can strap the bath to the roof of your car but you would need to go via the weighbridge and go through the formalities.The formalities are:1) in order to avoid being charged you need to offer proof that you live in the borough (your council tax bill is ideal for this but most any letter with your address on it will suffice) 2) make sure that you exit via the weighbridge as well, as the weight of rubbish you have deposited will still need to be recorded as there is a limit to how much you get for "free" even as a resident(These days the whole "weighbridge experience" is a lot slicker and a lot friendlier.  A few years back the bloke that used to man the thing was quite possibly the grumpiest miserable old git in all of Christendom and used to absolutely delight in making life an utter misery.)It irritates me that the benefit of the scrap goes to the council / Enterprise as well, but I suppose the argument goes that this helps to keep the council's costs down.  (Whether it actually does or not is another matter of course...)

Tony Colliver ● 4738d

I do not see how your observations impact on the one that I made one iota.I did not say that I would be dumping stuff on the streets.I did not imply that any individual householder would have a more than very occasional need to dump building rubbish.I still reckon it will lead to more being dumped on the streets.People are inclined to have the most irrational reaction to the suggestion that something is going to cost them money - no matter how little.Take for example your own assertion that you would rather pay lower council tax when surely enacting such a measure (charging householders for DIY waste disposed of at the tip) can have only the smallest possible effect on the overall level of council tax that you will be asked to pay.No, you will not be paying lower council tax - do not worry.

Tony Colliver ● 4738d

I am not making it up when I say that I had occasion to take an old bath to Greenford recycling centre. It fitted in my two-door hatchback sticking out of the back with a some bungees holding the back hatch down. What has annoyed me is that I would have preferred to have taken it in tied to my roof rack however the Ealing Conservatives in their last period of office lowered the height-restriction bars at Greenford recycling centre by about a foot meaning that you have to mess up the inside of your car rather tying stuff on the roof.As to taxes, there is no evidence to suggest that paying for taking rubbish to the dump will ever result in lower taxes. The way councils operate is simple, raise as much money as you can, provide as few services as you can. It has always been that way, and always will be that way in the future. There is no concept in local government of what do our residents need and want and we will provide if they pay for it. It is all about public sector careers and pensions on the corporate side and political flim-flam by career politicans on the party political side who also get council pensions for their years in office.Incidentally, if you took a cast iron or metal bath to the dump and it went in metal recycling the contractor (Enterprise) running the dump then sells it on as scrap metal making a profit off it therefore why should be pay at the dump to get rid of it when we have helped their business by giving them scrap metal at a place of their convenience without having to collect or transport it?

Peter Cumberpatch ● 4738d

When was the last time you dumped a bath at the recycling centre? On the other hand, when was the last time you paid council tax? (And don't be clever saying it was two months ago because the Direct Debit is deducted over a ten month period).In the last ten years, I have only once been to the recycling centre to dump building materials. Given the choice of lower council tax each year, or paying to use the recycling centre once every ten years I would prefer to pay lower council tax.

Ben Owen ● 4738d

This will simply lead to more and more dumping on the streets.(They can't cover every single street with a CCTV camera...  or can they...?)

Tony Colliver ● 4738d

Even if people are bending the system and dumping builders waste and passing it off as DIY that is not a reason for charging for DIY waste it is a matter of policing and working out which builders are dumping rubbish.Dont think you would get my vote if you support something like this.

Peter Cumberpatch ● 4738d

A lot can probably be re-purposed rather than the easy option of landfill and a lot is probably not DIY but Done By Somebody Else/Contractor as a business and as such it becomes Business or Trade Waste and is therefore chargeable

Philippa Bond ● 4738d

This is because they cut their council tax by approx £5.95 per household per year and went on the radio to boost about it. Know there was a catch. (Apart from the cuts to services already implemented and further being implemented this coming year)

Jaz Brown ● 4738d

That's because Hounslow consults no-one and it's councillors are either devious or hopeless.Makes Ealing's lot look like saints! Well not quite!!

Michael Brandt ● 4738d