Thomas Chambers' website: Council workmen blast residents for sweeping up leaves 'because it's against the rules'

Monday, September 27, 2010

Council workmen blast residents for sweeping up leaves 'because it's against the rules'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 8:03 PM on 27th September 2010

Community-minded residents have had a ticking off for sweeping up leaves from outside their homes - because it is against council rules.

With the first autumn leaves falling onto their street, families in Blakenall, West Midlands, have dutifully been sweeping them up and putting them into their garden recycling bins.

But their actions have been met with a stark warning from binmen, who told them depositing leaves in the brown containers was against council rules.

It's rubbish: Resident Bill Pittam, left, and councillor Pete Smith are both unhappy with Walsall Council's new bin policy

One pensioner in Guild Avenue was rapped by binmen for going against Walsall Council’s policy, which has been branded 'ridiculous'.

The rules outlined in Street Pride documents state leaves off the highway should not be put into brown bins because of 'contamination'.

Persistent offenders who break waste collection rules, including placing the ‘wrong’ materials in bins, could potentially face a fine of up to £1,000.

Council guidelines state that only grass cuttings, tree and shrub prunings, old plants and flowers, hedge clippings, weeds and leaves from residents’ own gardens can be put into brown bins.

The elderly woman who fell foul of the policy, who does not want to be named, complained to Walsall Councillor Pete Smith, who said it was 'crazy'.

'It’s still good to know some residents still take the trouble to keep the public footpath outside their own home clean,' he said. 'They should be encouraged, not discouraged.'

Now council leader Mike Bird has called for a common sense approach. He said: 'Anyone who has made comments to people about sweeping up leaves is taking the rules to the extreme.

'We are trying to encourage more pride in the community and this is the perfect example of a lady doing that and she should be praised.'

Retired lorry driver, Bill Pittam,79, from, Blakenall, said: 'I’ve always swept up leaves from outside my home and put them in my bin and have been doing for the last 30 years or so.'

Walsall Council, named the best authority in the country for its recycling targets, earlier this month approved a new rubbish collection policy, meaning it can now take enforcement action over those putting the wrong waste in the wrong bins