Waste management

[Scorrie]

So, if you're not from Shetland, you have no 'concept' of rural outlying areas?

 

Really?

[JohanofNess]

 

As for Community Councils, their contribution to anything in my experience has always been so minimal as be virtually undetectable, so I don't see any influence on any aspect of refuse handling resulting from whether they exist or not.

 

 

So do you not think it would be more beneficial if the community council had more say and authority in what happens in it's area?.

 

We've all seen how much individual communities in Shetland can achieve when motivated and with the right amount of folk involved. Just need to look at SMUHA, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly that got organised and how well done it was. If you make folk feel involved in their local community and that what they're doing has an impact then you'll see improvements. However, if you find that the community council has no obvious power then yeah you're right nobody will want to be involved because they can't directly improve anything. Nobody is overly fond of battering their head off a brick wall.

[MuckleJoannie]

The SIC is keen for community councils to take over some functions. I believe Walls and Sandness run public toilets and now the SIC are considering getting community councils to look after graveyard grass cutting.

[Ghostrider]

 

 

As for Community Councils, their contribution to anything in my experience has always been so minimal as be virtually undetectable, so I don't see any influence on any aspect of refuse handling resulting from whether they exist or not.

 

 

So do you not think it would be more beneficial if the community council had more say and authority in what happens in it's area?.

 

Unquestionably. My argument is that CCs simply don't provide that, the concept needs to either be completely rethought and reworked so that it does, or abandoned, as "as is" its costing tax dollars, but providing negligible return.

 

 

 

As for Community Councils, their contribution to anything in my experience has always been so minimal as be virtually undetectable, so I don't see any influence on any aspect of refuse handling resulting from whether they exist or not.

 

 

We've all seen how much individual communities in Shetland can achieve when motivated and with the right amount of folk involved. Just need to look at SMUHA, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly that got organised and how well done it was. If you make folk feel involved in their local community and that what they're doing has an impact then you'll see improvements. However, if you find that the community council has no obvious power then yeah you're right nobody will want to be involved because they can't directly improve anything. Nobody is overly fond of battering their head off a brick wall.

 

 

Exactly. Where the weight of interest exists folk get organised themselves and get on with it, SMUHA is a perfect example, as are a number of others. I'm not trying to do down anyone who is or ever has been involved with CCs, they presumably believe(d) there was enough in the system to make it worth giving it a go, nor am I trying to insinuate those who do/did aren't/didn't giving it their best shot. However the facts on the ground all point towards there being an ever decreasing belief and faith in the CC system - effectively those who have become involved and tried have been fighting to make a broken idea work. They may well have done the best they could with what little they had to work with, but at the end of the day the wider community just isn't feeling the connection with it or any real benefit of the CC being there.

[Ghostrider]

The SIC is keen for community councils to take over some functions. I believe Walls and Sandness run public toilets and now the SIC are considering getting community councils to look after graveyard grass cutting.

 

Well, it may be showing willing, but the bottom line is its a transference of responsibility, not power, and only a very small one at that. Some might question whether the motivation behind it is a desire to devolve or simply a deck chair shuffling on the Titanic exercise to help make SIC budgets balance more easily by unloading bits and pieces on to others. One which risks becoming a double edged sword for them, unless the transference of responsibility is also matched by an appropriate increase in funding to cover the additional responsibility.

 

The core problem issues I see with CCs is that regardless how much they sit and debate a subject, or who they make recommendations to elsewhere within Government at any level, nobody is obliged to take the slightest bit of notice of one word they say, unless they want to. Nor do they have the ability or means to undertake anything of much note to benefit their local area entirely on their own. Making them nursemaid for a few additional minor local services which already exist and function reasonably well isn't really going to change much.

[fionajohn]

I do not know the legal position as it stands now but unadopted roads were roads leading off from the main highways whether thy be classified A B or otherwise .in other words private roads   ...at one time if there were two or more registered dwellings at the point where it joined the main highway the council would consider taking over that road ....the grants paid by community council were to maintain these roads for the good of the occupier 

[crofter]

Think there were (are?) also grants for maintainance of peat roads.

[fionajohn]

hi  yes crofter they were also used for peat roads and remote hill sheep areas 

[fionajohn]

 

The SIC is keen for community councils to take over some functions. I believe Walls and Sandness run public toilets and now the SIC are considering getting community councils to look after graveyard grass cutting.

 

Well, it may be showing willing, but the bottom line is its a transference of responsibility, not power, and only a very small one at that. Some might question whether the motivation behind it is a desire to devolve or simply a deck chair shuffling on the Titanic exercise to help make SIC budgets balance more easily by unloading bits and pieces on to others. One which risks becoming a double edged sword for them, unless the transference of responsibility is also matched by an appropriate increase in funding to cover the additional responsibility.

 

The core problem issues I see with CCs is that regardless how much they sit and debate a subject, or who they make recommendations to elsewhere within Government at any level, nobody is obliged to take the slightest bit of notice of one word they say, unless they want to. Nor do they have the ability or means to undertake anything of much note to benefit their local area entirely on their own. Making them nursemaid for a few additional minor local services which already exist and function reasonably well isn't really going to change much.

 

this is called passing the buck

[Windwalker]

This topic started with rubbish being disposed off illegally since the demise of skips, well now the council have agreed to drastically cut the opening hours at the waste management centre. (See Shetland news). If the council continue to make it more difficult for rate payers to dispose of our rubbish, I would think folk will revert to ower da banks.

 

The excuse is so that it gives staff more time to sort the rubbish. I thought the public did that by putting it in the right skips which were then taken to the incinerator.

 

So unless you can get to the dump between 1pm - 6pm weekdays or 11am - 3pm weekends, your up turd creek. So if you finish work at 5pm rush home to take the garden rubbish to the dump, by the time you get there, there will be a long cue and they'll shut the gates.

 

This is a reduction of service from 12 hours down to 5 hours mon-fri and from 8 hours down to 4 at weekends, over 50%.

 

In addition we will have to store all our cans and bottles for a month until they collect them rather then drop the at the recycling points weekly as suits and all this will cost the council another 40 grand.

[Windwalker]

On the issue of Community Councils, I agree with Ghostie that they have likely had their day. Thier remit is now so small the cost of operation can no longer justify them.

 

I saw our local CC as nothing more than a private club, who would make decisions which affected the comunity, without any discussion with them to get their views. To be honest I could no longer name one person on our CC now.

 

Time for a review and some new system .

[Ghostrider]

hi  yes crofter they were also used for peat roads and remote hill sheep areas 

 

It probably varies between CCs, but with our one last I enquired road material was strictly for domestic property access tracks only. The only time we've had the opportunity to get anything for hill roads was through some "one off" special scheme for the purpose the Council ran in the early 80's.

[Scorrie]

Yet, suddenly, we can afford to collect glass and tins from every household around Shetland:

 

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/9446-sic-opts-for-new-mix-of-burning-and-recycling

 

 

[Ghostrider]

^ Just how many folk are going to bother sorting out bottles and tins, and storing them for up to a maximum of a month? Meanwhile it would seem from that report that bottle banks are being withdrawn in tandem with the introduction of the collection system (which AFAIK allows anyone to get rid of whatever they want rid of whenever it best suits them)....no doubt as some sort of supposed (on paper anyway) cost reduction exercise??

 

Seems to me that they're simply swopping one not very good system for an equally not very good system that costs at least £40k more....Would it really have cost much more to run both systems in tandem, and maximised the quantity of material recycled by giving folk some choice of using whatever system worked best for them?

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

^ & ^^ I think this could perhaps be due to new Scottish Gov. and/or EU Regulations having to be met regarding recycling.

 

I recall around a year ago being advised that all businesses were to have their waste collected by a licensed operator and not by the local authority, and that businesses were to take steps if no such licensed operator be available to transport to the nearest local authority's recycling processing plant the said recyclable paper, etc., all in order to reduce carbon footprints, yah de yah de yah.

 

I phoned up the said bods who had sent the e-mail and pointed out a car journey with the odd carrier bag of paper every month or two wasn't exactly very green and cost effective.  Apparently I won't be fined and can dump said carrier bag out with the household rubbish, if all other reasonable steps aren't available.  So I bet this latest recycling initiative ties in with yet another EU/Scottish Gov. scheme.