Hi,
I recently sent this letter to Cllr Seema Chandwani - would like to hear what other local residents feel about the situation and potential solutions!
Hi Councillor Chandwani,
I represent Healthy Streets Alexandra, a local residents group in the Alexandra North ward (you can learn a little more about us here). We have been working with Mike Hakata regarding the promotion of active travel.
I'm writing to you today to ask for your help in coming up with a solution, together local resident, to the fly-tipping and refuse situation at the bottom of Crescent Road, around the triangle area here.
A few years ago small black bins were installed on the road by the shops on Crescent road, but they are now causing serious problems. You can see some photos we have compiled over the last few weeks here. There are several issues:
- The bins are regularly struck by parking cars, causing them to be dislodged, and their lids ripped off.
- Foxes are able to access the refuse in the bins once the lids are missing, and then drag it across the street.
- They encourage fly-tipping.
- Residents are over-filling the bins, again giving access to foxes.
All of the above points can be seen from recent photos. We feel that the current street bins are not a solution to the problem - foxes will always be able to access the refuse sacks on account of the above points.
We would like to work together with yourself, other members of the council as well as local residents in coming up with a solution that doesn't present the same hazard around litter and hygiene (I personally have seen used condoms in the street as part of this rubbish). We had ideas around industrial bins being placed centrally in a fenced off area of the triangle but are open to any other solutions to this issue.
We would also like to find a solution that covers both these street bins and the pavement parking in this area. We have been promised action on this aspect of pavement parking for many, many years, but no action has been taken.
The fox population has grown considerably over the last few years, making this problem an almost every-day occurrence, so we would like to work together on a solution as soon as possible. If you are not the right person to talk to about this please can we be introduced to one of your colleagues.
Replies
A further update on this :
From the monitoring carried out by the council it looks like that businesses are leaving trade waste out in black bags, most boxes were emptied and none were overflowing, some residents waste not in the boxes, food waste scattered across the road and pavements and works are being done and the black boxes have been moved on the triangle.
Officers have written warning directly to any resident whose waste has been found on the pavement, and arranged for visits from the enforcement team to check trade waste contracts, gone through waste and any evidence found, passed to the enforcement team, installed an additional box outside 20 as we have heard and reminded Veolia to place sweeper bags inside the boxes. They believe waste is being left outside the boxes and wildlife are going through it, and that rough sleepers are going through the boxes and pulling bags out.( as they had this in other locations). They will continue to monitoring for the next week and apply for cameras to be installed.
Please let me know if any of you has comments or suggestions on these observations. In the meantime a huge thanks again to Ben, Gundrun and the Healthy Streets Alexandra for keeping the pressure and documenting the issue.
I wonder if we could create a Bin Buddies scheme, whereby people living on neighbouring roads agree to allow a resident on Crescent Rd to put stuff in their black bin provided it is bagged up properly, etc. I live a few streets away but would consider being a Bin Buddy. It would be a way of meeting new people and solving a problem!
That's an interesting idea!
Hi All,
As you may have seen, a significant improvement this week! Now two bins outside the shops at 20 Crescent Road. Goodness only knows how all of those flats are expected to fit their rubbish (without any recycling provision) still into that space, which is sufficient for about two dwellings and meant to cover what, 20...? But at least it's now twice as good as it was, and should much help things.
Thank you, Alessandra, if you pushed for that!
I kept asking for checking if there was capacity issue, so I am glad that this has been addressed. Only today I was asking when the additional box would be installed. I hope things will improve. Please keep us posted.
I am still waiting for an answer to three separate enquiries about the activities at 20 Crescent Road and if they need to be considered as generating commercial or domestic waste, and would need a specific waste strategy. But I have to mention that the Haringey officer on the case was out at 5:30 in the morning this week checking every box contents and how filled they were, and taking pictures to document the situation and get the additional box installed within a couple of days. I am speechless and grateful to this officer for the way this is being followed up.
Great!
Brilliant - thank you, Alessandra, and the officer!
Thanks for writing, Ben, and thanks for following up, Alessandra.
Definitelty worth remembering that it's much better than when there were no bins and just bags dumped.
These bins do seem to encourage fly-tipping, it's true, and is an issue when lids are lost.
Fundamentally, it seems hugely problematic that the flats don't have proper waste collection provision. How is it possible that they don't even have recycle bins (which are taken more frequently than general waste, as most things can be recycled)? We get the sense that the building regs around the flats above the shops are pretty poor - not sure there's safe fire escapes, and evidently no actual bin provision. Look at an equivalent block in e.g. Europe or industrial back-to-backs in the North and there will be proper provision. Wheely bins, in short. I would suggest that we should make the case for these flats and others to have proper provision on that level.
Those who've been around long enough will remember that there were industrial bins on the Triangle for a while which were not great and were replaced with the large flowerbed.
Ironically, we know of course that the council passed a very dubious application to build on Dave's old yard, which would have been a perfectly logical place to have a bin yard for that block of flats.
Probably points to a bigger question about national standards, and we should probably look into that rather than rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic... In short, if there is not a consistent standard for waste collection, certainly including wheely bins and recycling for all, why not?
Good point that pavement parking could be dealt with as a combined solution to build decent, fox- and car-proof mini bin yards (like bike hangars) on the road/pavement. Good call.
I remember that this issue - lack of provision for rubbish disposal - was raised by several people in response to the planning application for the flats. It was not difficult to see it would be a problem! But the objections were of course ignored.
Ben - thank you for raising this with the Cabinet member.
I would also like to share with those who are not part of the chat what has been done so far.
You will all remember the issues with the waste bags left on the streets previously and the foxes having a feast each night. The introduction of the black boxes has helped I think with that, although I appreciate not everyone is happy about them. I would like to hear from those who use them as I only manage to talk to some of the residents living in the flats above at the time they were installed.
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