Rubbish collectors flooded with phonecalls on first day
TORBAY Council was flooded with 6,000 calls on the first day of the new rubbish collection system.
Some people were unable to get through to the number issued by Torbay Council as it launched the new Tor2 service with its private partners May Gurney.
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The new collections were beset by problems which included:
Uncollected rubbish.
The length of time it is taking the collection teams to sort the separated rubbish.
Traffic delays caused by the new lorries making the collections.
Refuse collectors working 12-hour shifts.
Maggots in food waste bins.
Problems with assisted collections.
Tor2 revealed it had drafted extra bin lorries in from Somerset to help cope with the introduction of the new system which is designed to save Torbay Council money.
A Tor2 spokesman said: "We are getting high call volumes.
"Unfortunately not everyone is getting through and we can only apologise for that."
He said additional information was also being put on the newly formed company's website to help answer people's queries.
The spokesman explained each truck had a crew of three on board and May Gurney have used this structure on 20 similar waste and recycling schemes UK wide.
He said: "On Monday the weather was appalling which didn't help with the speed of collections and that will be something that will be overcome as the service gets up to speed."
He said now the scheme was up and running, residents would get used to segregating their rubbish and the collections would be faster. "It is early days," he said.
Additional vans have been drafted in from Somerset Waste Partnership for the first six to eight weeks of the new collections.
This had been previously agreed before the launch as an 'insurance plan' to ensure that all the waste was collected, added the Tor2 spokesman.
Elderly and disabled residents have also said they have not received the assisted service to help them remove their waste.
Worried pensioner Kay Glover, 72, from York Road, Paignton, was among the residents who was struggling and said she could not get through to the Waste Doctor helpline.
Tor2 confirmed on Monday that the 7,000 people who currently receive the assisted lift service would automatically continue to receive it, while the new company was currently processing 3,000 new applications for help.
They also said from now on the food waste collections would be weekly which would help deal with problems with maggots.
Residents reported problems with rubbish being left uncollected on Monday in Court Road, Innerbrook Road, Highland Road and Mead Road in Torquay and Redwell Road, Shorton Valley Road, New Park Road and Redburn Road in Paignton.
Problems with traffic were experienced in Preston Down Road, and Rowcroft Road in Paignton and Babbacombe Road in Torquay.
One Paignton resident raised concerns that emergency services would be unable to pass the large recycling lorries if they were responding to an emergency.
But the Tor2 spokesman said lorries could fit down all of the roads and that there had been trials and surveys to ensure they could get to where they needed to.
The Mayor of Torbay Nick Bye had been out seeing how the new service was working for himself yesterday morning but he was too busy to speak to the Herald Express.
The creation of Tor2 — Torbay Council's money-saving move to have a private sector company running services such as bin collections cost £2million to set up — five times more than the original budget after it took five years to create.
A Tor 2 spokesman confirmed that crews had been out for 'longer periods of time' than normal and said that was part of the 'mobilisation plan' agreed with Torbay Council before the scheme was launched.
Tor 2 director Alistair Campbell said the new company had launched a 'huge scheme' for 60,000 homes and 130,000 people being introduced to a new recycling scheme.
Mr Campbell said he was out on the recycling trucks with the Mayor Nick Bye yesterday morning and accepted some areas needed to be 'fine tuned and developed' but said that was 'entirely expected'.
"I keep stressing why we are making the changes because it is so important for the economy of Torbay going forward," said Mr Campbell.
"Our experience is it takes time, and we find people quickly become familiar with the routine.
"The speed with which we can increase the portion of waste that is recycled rises quite quickly and that is what we are trying to achieve."
58 Comments
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by Alan, Brixham
Friday, September 10 2010, 11:13AM
“I have just watched our bins being emptied.
We are in a narrow road, with cars parked along one side. (Quite a few narrow streets in Torbay I guess.)
The lorry took ten minutes to negotiate 200 yards and gathered a stream of traffic in front and behind. After the waiting, the two streams then had to negotiate their way around each other. Fiasco. And this will be repeated every week, in every similar street. Add to this the complete waste of fuel from the waiting time.
The whole business looked very labour intensive and I have a real problem in accepting that there is a net reduction to carbon emissions from this exercise, when all factors are taken into account.
On wider busier roads I see different problems. The lorries are worked on from the side. This will be as cars, some with hasty irritated drivers push to get past. Accident waiting to happen.
Within minutes if not seconds of my neighbours bins being emptied, there was a gust of wind, and hey presto a bin was in the middle of the road. A smartly dressed elderly lady, with her car first in the queue, had to get out and move the bin back to the side of the road. And today the weather is pretty average.
Finally, the guys lift up the (heavy) bins (how many in one day?), and then balance them between their body and the truck, to post the contents into the slots. Had anybody thought of (even a narrow) shelf to assist?
When are we going to get a comprehensive reply to every point made, from someone responsible? "Yes we thought of that, and this is why we are doing this", or "no, hands up, that is a teething issue and we are going to have to change."
Poor old Nick Bye sticks his neck out, and misguidedly tries to jolly us along and takes responsibility (and people who make personal comments about him should be ashamed). But this was evaluated by well paid council officers and voted through by councilors. Can the person responsible stand up, make a statement and be counted please?”
by D Blackford, Brixham
Thursday, September 09 2010, 5:08PM
“The consensus of opinion is that this is a farcical scheme and a complete waste of money - especially after at least one other council has scrapped it and gone to our old system which saved them a mint of money.
The one I feel sorry for are the bin men who have been dropped in it and probably get the sack if they complain. They have to try to implement this sorry scheme against great odds and public anger while the perpetrators of the farce sit behind their desks with the telephones off.
If it is true that Ms Tanner - who apparently is on about £95000 at Torbay Council (why so much?) has also been made a a Director of Tor2 - then we who pay for all these schemes and outlandish wages, have the right to cry 'Foul' and want serious answers as to whether there has been corruption here.”
by David, TQ2
Thursday, September 09 2010, 4:27PM
“If you have maggots in your food waste bin then you have flies in your house. So buy some fly spray. Problem solved.”
by Stan, Torbay
Thursday, September 09 2010, 7:42AM
“Another golden opportunity lost by the council. A chance to come up with something innovative and cutting edge. A chance to lead and have other councils clamouring to copy.
But no a system that does not and will not ever work.
But I expect that they will struggle on for years waiting for it to "settle down".
At least "rubbish" will aptly turn out to be Byes legacy.”
by Damian, Torquay
Thursday, September 09 2010, 7:10AM
“Not very well implemented......as usual Torbay council must do better. What I find saddening is that there are some very serious failings going on within Torbay council, not least the recent damning report regarding children services. There are young people in potential danger due to the failings of this rotten regime but stories on the subject attract a mere handful of comments. Is it a case of "we dont mind if you fail a few vunerable kids, but dont you dare c**k up my rubbish collection".......looking forward to saying Bye Bye next May.”