THIS is an open letter to the Forest of Dean District Council regarding the new waste and recycling service.

I write on behalf of elderly pensioners regarding the new waste service due to begin from July 2 involving the 240 ltr black refuse bin.

At the present time, and it has been so for many years, householders have put their rubbish into a large plastic bag and left it out for collection.

Some pensioners had no difficulty with this procedure. However having to wheel a large black bin has caused concern amongst certain elderly people who are not considered to be in poor health. This concerns certain pensioners who live in a terrace type property and will have to wheel the black bin from the rear of their property to the front for collection.

The district council has decided that if certain people cannot wheel their black bin then assistance may be given under certain circumstances.

This involves requesting an application form from the district council but in order to validate the request the form will need to be signed by the person's doctor or healthcare professional to confirm that the person is unable to push the black bin to the kerbside themselves.

Apparently there are no concessions for elderly people in good health.

Now I wonder if the district council has given proper thought to this?

Doctors normally charge for anything they have to do outside their normal duties and I would imagine that signing a form for the district council is outside the scope of general medication. Have the doctors in the area agreed to sign a form free of charge?

I am included in the term 'elderly pensioner' so I have been told. My property is some way off the highway and I have a steep drive with a bend to negotiate to get to my property. I usually take my black bag and two recycling boxes down to the lane on a sack barrow every two weeks. From July 2 I shall have to take the black bin one week and the recycling boxes etc the next week.

I am not comfortable with the new system but I shall have to consider how to do it. Some female pensioners in good health may struggle to push a full bin every two weeks.

Now I may be incorrect but I have heard that beige coloured bags are being issued for people who do not have access to a downstairs area, ie flat residents etc. I thought that the idea of the black bins was to finish collecting bags and the refuse vehicles are being fitted to take bins only.

If the issue of beige coloured bags is correct, why cannot elderly pensioners who are not classes as being in poor health be issued with them?

There are some properties in the Forest area which do not have a simple path from the house to the kerbside. Has this been considered by the council? This is a concern for pensioners who will have to push a large, heavy bin for some distance to put it out for collection.

There will be much confusion when the new system comes into force. Why cannot elderly pensioners, irrespective of health, be given bags, if they are being issued?

– Janet P. Pennock, Ruardean Woodside.