WITH the arrival of the 'Wonderful Tories' into council, one of the first victims of their 'cuts' campaign was the rodent operative.?It was therefore natural that they would promote policies for the proliferation of rats as we are now seeing in Coalway. In making the following remarks regarding the new but inefficient refuse collection system, let me make it clear that in no way am I criticising or maligning the operatives who man the trucks, who have always been courteous and helpful to an old dodderer like me, and who are merely carrying out instructions.

This new system was implemented from July 2012 after a full-page advert in the local papers, which featured one of the ruling cabal dressed as Wurzel Gummidge and indeed looked the part. The system which has been proved to be grossly inadequate cost us taxpayers in excess of £1 million. The advert also stated that all rubbish must be placed inside the bin, whether bagged or not, and nothing outside the bin would be collected. So there, na na nana na!

Were it not so serious, the populace could treat such a babyish instruction with the contempt it deserves, as it appears to have been conceived without any cogent thought or observation.

From last July, the operatives were disbarred from doing what they had been doing for the past three decades or more, once the dustbins became obsolete. That is they caught hold of the bags of refuse by the scruff and hurled them into the back of the wagon without ado. Mr Venk Shenoi has already written stating that the system and its alleged costs were flawed. Recalling to mind the old adage that 'time is money' I agree after making my own checks.

Following hospitalisation, I was confined to bed for several days last summer, before the introduction of the new collection system. Having nothing better to do than gawp out of the window, I watched the bin men (as they are still called) taking away the refuse from Forsdene Walk. They cleared the Close in four minutes, ten seconds. Later, the green bin wagon arrived and bearing in mind that not all households had such bins; it still took the men seven minutes twenty seconds. Both crews were working flat-out.

The green bins, as you well know had to be emptied by engaging the tipping mechanism on the wagon, something that the refuse collectors have to do now with the new system. It should be obvious even to the bird-brains on the council that the longer the time taken, the higher the cost. But apparently not, as the operatives have been instructed to leave bags that are placed outside the black bin, putting a rejection label on each bag. Once again, it takes more time to affix the label than it does to 'grab and chuck.' Such 'offending' bags were accepted in order to clear the bad weather backlog, so why not now? No! We must adhere to the new petty rule.

When challenged, a jobsworth at the council stated that this new system was meant to prevent fly-tipping and that every bag not enclosed would be so treated as having been dumped. This naive woman does not appreciate that fly-tippers do not dump their rubbish in residential areas or estates where they and their vehicles are easily recognised and identified. In any case, is the innocent householder responsible for clearing up someone else's filth just because the bin men have stuck a label on it?

It is obvious that fortnightly collections are not enough and that households with large families cannot cope. Yet this inefficient cabal refused a subsidy from the Minister, Eric Pickles, to retain weekly refuse collections. When the public wished for such an arrangement to continue, why was not this offer accepted?

Also, harking back to the days when the former council direct works dept were responsible for refuse collection, everybody knew their rounds and when they would arrive.?You could almost set your watch by them. Yet since the service was privatised, we are instructed to 'make sure that your bin is on the pavement by 7.30am.' Why, when the collection is often not made before 3.30pm? Is it 'just in case one of our lorries is in your area?'

In summary, the system is thoroughly unfit for purpose.

– Cy Roberts, Coalway.