Freighter Service cutbacks
Date: Friday 16 July, 2010
No more Sunday service for the weekend Freighter visits
Maidstone Borough Council is reducing its bulky refuse freighter to a one day a week service, and its long term future looks doubtful. Also, garden refuse and several other types of waste will no longer be accepted.
Here is an article from the Downs Mail for July 2010:
At least Linton is not among the sites listed as having a low usage.. the service has always been well supported here, as the photo shows:
What is worse, however, is the long list of items no longer accepted by the freighter. These include:
- Flammables
- Household waste
- Electrical items such as fridges, televisions, monitors and vacuum cleaners.
- Large quantities liquids/powders
- Paints/Oils
- Lighting tubes
- Vehicle parts/batteries/tyres etc
- Commercial waste
- Garden waste
- Large bulky items including sofas
- Clinical waste
- Asbestos
- Plasterboard
Note that anything bulky, or household related, or garden related, or anything electrical, is now excluded.
If you are wondering what that leaves, the Maidstone Borough Council website suggests: an old bicycle, broken rotary washing line, old carpet, broken tiles.. as long as they aren't household related, presumably. Your Webmaster can't see the point of retaining the service at all on those terms. They might just as well shut it down altogether, as they evidently want to do. Isn't it strange, how cutbacks or increased charges are always made to the most useful, basic services that the local authority provides, like waste collection, lavatories, parking etc and never to the jargon-ridden add-ons nobody really wants or needs? Wouldn't it have been more sensible to alternate collections so that one is garden related, the next electrical etc., so that they could be recycled and need not go to landfill? you can let MBC know your views here
Please note that the above represents the webmaster's personal view and is not an official view of Linton Parish Council. MBC have been asked for their comments, and we will publish here anything we receive..
The frequency of the service is obviously much reduced, and only two visits by the freighter have been scheduled for the remainder of this year: 25 September and 4 December 2010. The Diary Section here gives full details of these and any future visits.. note that the timings have been changed.
Steve Goulette, the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services at MBC, was asked for his comments, and the 'raison d'etre' behind the changes. This is his reply (23 July 2010):
The weekend freighter is the least environmentally friendly service offered by the council as all the waste is sent to landfill. However the Council recognised the benefits of the service to the local community and therefore decided to re-launch it as a Saturday-only service directed to those areas where is most needed.
The list of items which are not accepted at the Saturday freighter has not changed significantly as most of the items on the list have never been accepted including the emptying of wheeled bins or black bags of household waste, commercial waste and hazardous items. Most electrical items are still accepted, with the exception of fridges, freezers, televisions and monitors which are hazardous and require a separate collection from other waste. The only additions to the “unacceptable” list are garden waste and large bulky items such as a bath or sofa. The Council is not suggesting that “anything household related, bulky or electrical” is now not accepted through this service, but is committed to reducing waste, especially that sent to landfill, and therefore has reviewed this service to ensure that it no longer promotes landfilling waste which could easily be recycled or reused.
The previous schedule operated over 8 weeks compared with the new one which operates over 10 weeks, however significantly reduces the cost of the service. No sites have been removed as suggested in the Downs Mail, and the Wheelers Lane site which previously operated once every 8 weeks, will now operate once every 10 weeks.
A member of the waste team will be at all sites for the first 10 week schedule and we welcome your comments about the more sustainable service."