Southwark large item collection

[Azalea]

There always seems to be lots of fly tipping on the corner of oxenford st and coplestone rd, the other day was particularly bad.

[dc]

Of course it's annoying, but the decision should be looked at in context given that charging for this service now seems to be standard across London and beyond.

Sutton, the only London borough controlled by Cllr Barber's party, charges ?25 for 3 items, then ?5 for any item beyond that - so ?60 for 10 items rather than ?16.

At the higher end, Barnet charges ?56.60 for one item, Richmond ?50 for five...

[James Barber]

Hi dc,

I'm a Southwark councillor.

When my lot led the council officers repeatedly told us to charge for this service but we didn't because we didn't want an increase in fly tipping.

Since then even more compelling evidence about the broken window theory and crime generation.

[Azalea]

Fly tipping will definitely increase as people who previously used the free service won't be able to afford it, even at ?16.

[cella]

I have just had a running battle with the bulk waste team who refused on 3 occasions to pick up a tv stand and its front cover which had come unstuck. Despite my complaining several times to the call centre staff and writing emails to senior staff and councillors, the team decided the cover was glass and refused to pick the items up with no explanation. I was told that they are supposed to put a calling card through the front door with information on it but this didn't happen and the last time I waited in to see the team so I'm afraid I'm convinced they didn't turn up at all. I have made all issues known and each time, call centre staff seemed ill equipped to deal with simple enquiries and hadn't read any of the emails so it was a frustrating experience having to repeat it all again each time. The first time no note was made of my call. My concerns about call centre staff being ill equipped deal with the onslaught of customer complaints once the charge is imposed and, additionally, complaints about the inevitable increase in fly tipping were ignored on every occasion. In the end, as I had injured my wrist, I paid my neighbour to drive it to the recycling centre where it was received with no problem but not everyone would be prepared to do this and the item would possibly just have been dumped elsewhere.

[HelBel65]

Friend of mine booked a collection of some old carpet. It wasn't collected, and the message she got was it was 'too heavy'. She had hoiked the whole lot down from the attic by herself. Pathetic!

[James Barber]

Rockets Wrote:

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> I arranged for 8 fence panels to be arranged this

> Tuesday and needless to say the council guys...

Hi Rockets,

This is the response I've had:

"

Thank you for your enquiry concerning the bulk waste collection service experienced by a Southwark resident which has been passed to me to investigate, I can respond as follows.

The service requested was for collection of 8 fence panels with attached fence posts and 4 bags. The bulky waste collection crew went to carry out this job on 29th September. They found that the fence panels could not be safely removed as they were breaking up in hand as soon as any attempt was made to lift them, and also some of the fence panels were overgrown with trailing vegetation making them more difficult to safely handle. The collection crew took such items as they were safely able to and left the remainder. The collection team do use calling cards to advise residents if they are not able to do a collection but they did not do so for this collection as some items were removed.

Based on the information available it was not unreasonable for the collection crew to have left some items because they were not safe to collect. Nevertheless, there are a number of aspects raised by this enquiry that can help us to improve the provision of the bulky waste service in future, these are:

? At the point when the service is booked it needs to be made clear that items must be presented for collection such that they will not fall apart when picked up and carried, are free of trailing vegetation, cables or other trip hazards, and where appropriate are bagged, boxed or tied, all to enable safe collection.

? Calling cards are to be left by the collection crew for any job that is only partially completed as well for any jobs that are not completed.

? The database records for the collection that are shared by Veolia and the Call Centre are updated accurately to identify reasons for partial or non-collection.

I hope this response deals satisfactorily with your enquiry. Please let me know if you have any further queries.

"

[HelBel65]

......."and also some of the fence panels were overgrown with trailing vegetation making them more difficult to safely handle."

Eh? Ridiculous.

[Rockets]

Their response is utter poppycock - whatever next we couldn't touch wood as we might get splinters....?

I can very much assure you they were not breaking up in hand as I moved them from the garden to the front of the house and they are very much intact....

And the trailing vegetation is laughable....photo attached of the killer vegetation....

James, thank you for following-up - could you send to me the contact details of the person who responded as I would like to speak to them?

It appears there is a problem with the bulk collection team and I wonder whether anyone within the council is prepared to address the issues? Today I called their customer service line and spoke to a very helpful person who once again said they are having lots of problems with the team responsible for collections and a mass of complaints.

It looks to me that there are problems and yet those responsible for the collections are turning a blind eye to it....

[Azalea]

Can anyone confirm that Southwark are now charging for bulk collections?

[Sue]

Rockets Wrote:

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>

> And the trailing vegetation is laughable....photo

> attached of the killer vegetation....

>

I think to be fair, that's a potential trip hazard.

Lengths of mature Ivy can be quite sturdy, and if somebody caught their foot in one it probably wouldn't just break.

[Renata Hamvas]

There is still no charge at the moment Azalea.

[Rockets]

Sue, there is nothing attached to the fence that is dangling that anyone might be able to trip on or to hang themselves on! Granted they do have to negotiate a front gate that will swing shut in a brisk wind....perhaps they need to do a risk assessment....;-)

Quite simply they are being bone-idle and not doing the job they are paid to do and many other people are having the same issue with these teams. Ultimately, it is wasting tax-payers money. I now have my third collection attempt booked (they were a no show on the second and the telephone helpline people say that you just need to keep booking slots and they will pick it up eventually).

As I said earlier perhaps they won't want to pick it up for fear of getting splinters....there is definitely a potential splinter hazard....

[Azalea]

Renata Hamvas Wrote:

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> There is still no charge at the moment Azalea.

Thank you. Have you heard anything about an upcoming charge, as James Barber said it would start in October.

[Sue]

Rockets Wrote:

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> Sue, there is nothing attached to the fence that

> is dangling that anyone might be able to trip on

> or to hang themselves on!

I meant when they are carrying it.

It looks from your photo as if there is ivy attached (and lying on the ground beneath the fence) which would hang down if the fence was lifted?

Apologies if I'm wrong.

[Rockets]

So, the collection was re-arranged for yesterday and guess what....nothing removed - what a surprise. And, no calling card left either....so looks like the council are still not following their own code....or perhaps no-one bothered to come out...what a shambolic council we have to endure...I will call them tomorrow for their latest round of excuses....

Anyone got the contact details for Deborah Collins at Southwark as I understand she is the one responsible for this "service" within the council....?

[cella]

My last 3 complaints regarding bins/large item collection/food bags have been either channelled through or copied to Deborah Collins who has never responded. It seems that, increasingly, senior staff are more detached from their individual areas of responsibility and just don't get involved. As outlined in a previous post my recent experience with a large item collection was terrible and ended up with the team coming out again even though I had notified senior staff that I had, to end the saga, paid a neighbour to take the item to the recycling centre. The total cost, involving many staff and councillors must have amounted to a sizeable sum and demonstrated the incompetence of the team and the lack of management they receive. They will not, it appears, be able to deal with the higher level of expectations from customers when the charge is imposed or the the increase in complaints with the anticipated fly tipping. Poor value for council tax payers.

[edhistory]

The next step is to identify Deborah Collins' line-manager?

[cella]

She is the most senior person in that area.

[uncleglen]

I've never had any problems with this collection service.....I always do it online however

[cella]

I always do the initial raising online but the same team deal with all issues.

[edhistory]

cella Wrote:

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> She is the most senior person in that area.

I would GUESS that her line-manager is the Director of Public Realm [sic].

[cella]

She advises councillors which must be the biggest concern as she appears so remote from her area and staff.

[Rockets]

Is the service outsourced? Maybe we can get more joy making noise with the company responsible for it. Companies with a commercial interest tend to care more about reputation than unaccountable council officials.

Anyone who has had problems please feel free to PM me with details of the issues and we can collate a list of problems.

Thanks

[Vik]

Just thought I would add that I have used the bulky waste service many, many times and have never had a problem.

It's a shame that they may have to start charging.