It seems the snow has brought the Councils Waste Collection Service to a halt, yet again. See email below that I have just received.
From: Dumas, Tara
Sent: 05 January 2010 11:42
To: Councillors
Cc: Chief Officers
Subject: Waste collection update: 5th January 2010
Dear Councillors, In line with the Council’s protocol for withdrawl of services, I would like to update you with regards to Wirral’s waste collection services. All waste and recycling collections due today have been temporarily suspended. Risk assessments deemed the footways safe to work on, however, a thorough RCV (refuse collection vehicle) dry run assessment has been carried out and road conditions are currently deemed too dangerous to deploy the refuse and recycling fleet. Conditions will be re-assessed at 12pm. However, there have been reports of further snow, so residents can expect major delays to waste collections today. Residents are advised to leave their bins out in case the fleet are able to work later on in the day. It is too early to tell at this point, if there will be disruption to services tomorrow. Residents are advised to visit the Council website for updates over the next couple of days, if their bin collection has not been made as scheduled. One-Stop Shops and the Streetscene Call centre have been briefed on the current situation. Street Cleansing crews have been directed to snow clearance duties in retail areas. I apologise for these unavoidable delays. I will inform you if there are any changes to the current situation.
Kind Regards
Tara Dumas, Waste and Environment Manager Tel: 0151 606 2453
Who carries out the risk assessment?
Admittedly, access is not too bad where I live now but my previous address entailed de-icing the car at 6:30 in the morning, getting it off the drive onto an ungritted road in order to put the bin out and putting the car back on the drive. Only to do it all again at 7:30pm when it was obvious they weren’t coming and the car had iced up again.
The advice this Christmas was to do that on the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th! I wonder how many Biffa workers or Council advisers got up at 6am on those mornings specifically to put their bins out!! Which planet are these people from if the expect ordinary people to do that!
The Council website was “stuck” at the first instructions (late bins would be emptied on the 27th). Something wrong with keeping local radio updated?
My very first winter at work was in 1962/3 and involved a 15 mile trip each way at 6 in the morning. The worst winter in recent history. The snow was so thick you had no idea where the pavement ended and the road began. It went on like that for weeks. But public services ran and the rest of us got to work.
These days, someone’s having a laugh at the taxpayer’s expense – I just haven’t worked out yet who it is.