Chris Malone, had paid an extra £45 per year to Kirklees in order to acquire a brown bin specifically designated for his garden waste. However, Chris claims that not only did the first collection of the year get missed, but the subsequent two collections were met with binmen who adamantly refused to take it away.
Adding insult to injury, Chris discovered a Kirklees sticker affixed to his bin, boldly declaring it as “contaminated.” He said the source of the contamination was because he hadn’t shaken off excess soil from the roots of a few dead hydrangeas and rhododendron plants. Chris has said the plants had “very little soil” attached to them, as he had already diligently shaken off the roots.
Chris, of Radcliffe Road, Golcar, wasted no time in lambasting the bin workers, branding them as “lazy” and claiming that they refused to empty the bin on account of its weight. His says the bin had not been emptied for weeks due to the missed collection, resulting in its substantial heaviness.
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Chris filed a complaint with Kirklees, only to be further frustrated when informed that it could take a staggering 15 days for the matter to be resolved.
Expressing his anger, Chris said: “There’s nothing in the bin that’s out of the ordinary. There was a bit of soil attached to some plant roots.
“They came yesterday but would not collect it.”
He added: “This is now been escalated with the complaints team; they have advised this will take another 15 days which means I will be another two weeks without any further collections so in the meantime, what am I to do with my garden waste?”
Chris accused Kirklees Council of being “lazy” and “lackadaisical.” He said: “It is very frustrating. This is the kind of attitude that encourages fly tipping, which none of us want to see. It is bureaucracy gone potty.”
In a fit of exasperation, Chris even admitted to contemplating leaving his garden waste outside Huddersfield Town Hall as a tangible expression of his frustration.
He said: “They know that this has inconvenienced me, but they simply don’t care. I can’t believe they have thoroughly examined the bin.”
In response to Chris’s complaint, a council officer emailed him saying: “I am confident that our crews would not have chosen to apply such a sticker to your bin in an effort to get out of the responsibility of emptying your bin.”
Chris hit back, telling the council: “I’d also like to state I’m very surprised that your crew have given this (garden waste bin) a proper inspection as on previous occasions I’ve had to complain as the bins are not put back in the proper place and left abandoned in the middle of the pavement as they’re always in a rush so I found it very difficult to believe this has been inspected and believe that they have just tried to move it and as it’s heavy taking the easy option which is to slap a sticker on the bin.”
In one email, the council officer said: “We trust that our crew would not apply a contamination sticker without observing items within the bin that cannot be taken. Excess soil is often the most common issue, and all roots must be shaken thoroughly to remove as much soil as practically possible.”
Yorkshire Live approached Kirklees Council for further comment.
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