Haringey Council did not consult local people on a fundamental change to the way in which rubbish will be collected in the borough, it has emerged. Last week senior officers addressing the Muswell Hill Area Forum admitted that residents were not asked during a borough-wide consultation on the Council’s waste contract whether they wanted the Council to move to fortnightly non-recyclable waste collections.
Liberal Democrats who, at the Committee section of meeting, voiced their current opposition to the change to fortnightly collections, say that the lack of consultation shows that Labour have failed to get the buy-in of local residents on a change to a basic Council service.
In another development, that Liberal Democrats believe shows the Labour-run Council’s lack of consideration for residents, local people will not have a say on the size of the new wheelie bin for recyclable waste. Instead the Council will provide the largest 240 litre bin to all designated households in the new scheme.
Cllr Jim Jenks, Haringey Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson, comments:
“The Council have finally admitted that residents in Haringey were not given the opportunity to have a say on this fundamental change to rubbish collection.
“Liberal Democrats are 100% committed to increasing recycling but a change on this scale without consultation is unacceptable.”
Lynne Featherstone MP, adds:
“Not only are the Labour Council ignoring the views of local residents on the service but they are also failing to give local people any say on what size of bin they can have. Some households do not need a large 240 litre bin yet Labour are giving them no choice.”
Lynne Featherstone 
We are not being given a choice of bin sizes? Outrageous. And what about colour and design? I favour heart-shaped pink and Lynne will be opting for yellow in the shape of a wet blanket, I think. She really does latch onto the big issues of the day…
OK it’s reasonable to expect some public consultation on some issues and maybe fortnightly collections is one such issue. Personally, as long as there is regular collection of recycling then I think we can manage easily a fortnightly collection of non-recylables. But what concerns fellow residents and myself is why the concil appears to be unable or unwilling to do anything about the leaving of household rubbish at some locations on a daily basis – and at all times of the day. So perhaps there’s no need to worry about fortnightly collections – just find a convenient corner and dump your rubbish there. In all fairness, Council leader Claire Kober (whose intention it is to make Haringey the greenest) assured us in Summer 2011 that the specific problem which we have drawn to the council’s attention regularly for more than three years, will be solved in 2012. Apparently there will only be a three hour window (every day?!) when rubbish can be left and collected from the location in question. We look forward to this being implemented; so far this year there has been no change but then again there are still 11 months more before 2012 comes to an end.