Row over ‘ugly’ new wheelie bins to boost Camden recycling rates
Wheelie bins are coming to the streets of Camden in a bid to boost the borough’s recycling rates.
But homeowners say they will struggle to house the containers in their often cramped front gardens and claim the “ugly” bins will be a hazard.
Properties currently have black bin liners for rubbish, green bags or boxes for dry recyclables, blue bags for paper, brown boxes for food scraps and white sacks for garden cuttings.
From next summer, 20,000 households – most north of Euston Road – will get a 240-litre wheelie bin for paper and dry recyclables. Slim-line 140-litre bins will also be available.
The scheme, which will cost �835,000, aims to increase Camden’s recycling rate from 33 to at least 40 per cent by 2020 by making it easier to recycle.
Colin Taylor, 64, a chartered accountant of Belsize Park, said: “My wife and I occupy a garden flat, one of seven in the house. Does that mean we will have seven wheelie bins in addition to normal dustbins?
“How long will it be before a serious accident is caused by the wheelie bins blocking the pavement?”
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Frank Herzog, of Belsize Park Gardens, added: “Residents will have to live with the ugly big bins on the streets of a conversation area after many have spent often significant amounts of money to build bin stores in line with conservation rules.”
Roger Montgomery, 70, of Belsize Crescent, said: “I don’t understand why, with all the other pressing priorities, they want to spend money on this now?”
But Farokh Khorooshi, 57, of Hampstead 2020, which campaigns against ugly street furniture, says wheelie bins will stop rubbish blowing down the street.
He has bought them for his Fitzjohn’s Avenue, Hampstead, home
“Wheelie bins are also vermin proof so foxes can’t get in,” he said.
Cllr Chris Knight (Con, Hampstead) said objectors had not “grasped the nettle”. He said: “We can’t continue burying and burning things.”
Cllr Phil Jones (Lab, Cantelowes), the council’s cabinet member for sustainability, said: “The scheme will pay for itself after two to three years because the service will be �350,000-a-year cheaper.’’
