Comments on: What happened to localism?!

By: Platform 10 » Blog Archive » Oh no – I return to my bin obsession

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:30:51 +0000

[...] can’t believe I’m about to do this. I SWORE I wouldn’t write any more about bins… but it turns out I still need [...]

By: Platform 10 » Blog Archive » Necessity is the mother of invention

Platform 10 » Blog Archive » Necessity is the mother of invention — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:13:42 +0000

[...] had my questions over parts of the Conservatives’ plans for local government (why mandate weekly bin collection? Or, while a good thing in itself, I don’t really understand how [...]

By: Platform 10 » Blog Archive » Why Grant Shapps is letting himself down

Platform 10 » Blog Archive » Why Grant Shapps is letting himself down — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:42:49 +0000

[...] is an argument I’ve made again and again about the Conservative localist agenda – they have got to accept that it won’t be perfect, [...]

By: Platform 10 » Blog Archive » “The lesser-spotted wheelie-bin faces extinction”

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:50:57 +0000

[...] week, though, the Conservatives’ Local Government team are, once again, making a mockery of their name and demanding central action for local [...]

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:07:51 +0000

If it saves money (i.e. my council tax!) then why not empty my bin every other week? Lots of other countries do this without any obvious problems (e.g. Germany, Austria…) They have warmer summers than we do. “Rodents and flies?” What a load of rubbish…

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:24:45 +0000

The move to bi-weekly wasn’t local initiative you know, it was pressure derived from landfill taxation. Top-down, not bottom up. What this proposal does is allow Councils’ to reflect the will of their residents. Or do you really think that people a clamouring to have their bins emptied every other week?

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:14:36 +0000

Fiona is spot on. If people want to restore weekly bin collections where they have been lost, they can vote for councillors who will do so. To tell citizens that it makes no difference which way they vote is a disincentive to democratic participation or otherwise taking an interest or responsibility for the way their communities are run. This proposal is cheap populism – “Hey, here’s a good idea for one of our Sunday papers announcements” – devoid of either honesty or philosophical consistency.

By: Anon

Anon — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:33:58 +0000

Quite right Fiona, ‘Alternate’ weekly collections came about in my local authority nearly ten years ago, through thorough surveying of how people carried out recycling, and trial pilots. It works well for us in the leafy south-east – mainly detached homes. We have one of the better recycling rates in the country. Lots of other authorities copied us, and made a hash of it, because it was an off-the-peg solution, rather that tailoring it to individual needs – hence its unpopularity. Localism is about getting what works best for you. Straightjacketing councils with particular models of refuse collection, one way or the other is not localism. Neither is dictating council tax levels.