What A Load Of Rubbish! Rott-en Service For Brighton And Hove Residents

Rubbish wasn’t collected from houses in Rottingdean for three weeks because the only driver willing to reverse down their driveway was on holiday, residents have been told.

People living in Tudor Close off Deans Court Road say that even now overgrown hedges have been trimmed back, their recycling collections are still being missed.

They say their regular driver told them July’s missed collections were because he was on holiday and no one else would reverse a vehicle down the close’s narrow driveway.

Brighton and Hove City Council blamed overgrown hedges and trees restricting access to the two-and-a half metre (eight foot) wide driveway.

Once the private estate’s gardener had trimmed back the greenery Cityclean emptied the refuse bins – but left the recycling behind.

Resident Jason Peters was surprised to find the recycling was left behind as he made daily calls to Cityclean for the three weeks the bin rubbish and recycling built up.

Mr Peters said he was told no driver would come out and no manager from Cityclean would come out to adjudicate, leaving the bags building up from the 29 homes in Tudor Close.

Usually, the rubbish and recycling are collected on the same day, according to Mr Peters.

He said:

“When they came on the normal day they left half of it, so we’re half collected so it’s a start.

“They’ve not done the job properly, so do we have to police the guys in their operation? We should expect it to be done.”

Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey said he has become “Mr Bins” for Rottingdean.

He said:

“Saltdean has just had all of this and it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“The capacity used to get rid of the backlog has probably come out of Saltdean and Tudor Close wasn’t collected because a month ago all the capacity was dealing with Saltdean.”

Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said the general waste and recycling is scheduled for different vehicles on different days of the week.

Councillor Rowkins said:

“The only times when recycling is collected by a refuse vehicle is when there are significant levels of contamination, including items like soft plastics, plastic pots, tubs and trays, or food and drink cartons.

“Sometimes we see recycling placed in bags or bin liners, which themselves contaminate the load.

“We ask all residents to keep their recycling clean and loose, and only place items we are able to collect in the recycling bins.”

Paper and card, cans, and plastic bottles (including their lids) can be recycled. Glass is collected separately, and metal lids can be placed back on bottles.