Waste management

[fionajohn]

[MOD - merged "Wot, no Skips?" with "so the council" and renamed "Waste Management" - 07/10/2014]

 

so the council says there is no dumping since the skips went

recently near north roe

 

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj133/sheltielass/PIC_0130.jpg

[shetlandpeat]

There has always been dumping, regardless of skips being there or not. No matter how fantastic or diverse a population is, there will always be those who spoil it for others. The blame is only atributed to the person who broke the law, it was their choice.

[fionajohn]

i agree pete that who-ever dumps stuff is the one to blame but i've lived in northmavine for over 25 years and have never seen stuff dumped in large quantities like this i've often seen stuff dumped by the kerb in Brae tyres etc which again i've never seen

[shetlandpeat]

Really though, to prove that it is the case that these items were dumped because of a lack of a skip provision, the offenders need to be caught.

To go on it now, you will have to demonstrate that there were no dumping incidents when the skip was there.

 

We here have systems, they also cost to use, it is however, the community that has discovered who the offenders were. Detailed images of items published in a public forum that is well read is a good way. We have also found that actively pushing the free sites similar to FreeServe and Freegle have helped a great deal.

 

It cannot be the councils fault in many ways, folk are really responsible for how they dispose of their waste. Consumers need to be a bit more proactive, under WEEE regulations and packaging laws, the consumer can expect the supplier to take these upon delivery. It would be something to work with the council with. It does work, you need to find folk who are willing.

[trout]

Is it just me or is both of your posts in this thread, shetlandpeat, just rambling and passive aggressive?

 

To go on it now [...].

 

Go on what? What does this even mean in the context of the wider sentence. Medication? A bike?

 

We here have systems, they also cost to use, it is however, the community that has discovered who the offenders were.

 

Eh?

 

We here have systems, too. Yes, systems. I have systems. They have systems. Some systems. Big systems. Small systems. Do daa diddy doo.

 

It cannot be the councils fault in many ways, folk are really responsible for how they dispose of their waste. Consumers need to be a bit more proactive, under WEEE regulations and packaging laws, the consumer can expect the supplier to take these upon delivery. It would be something to work with the council with. It does work, you need to find folk who are willing.

 

I think this is probably how you've ended up de-railing a possibly useful thread, no? Trying to stick up for "councils". A council. Any council. Every council. To give some form of super-super-insight into goodness only knows what?

 

Certainly people do have a responsibility to dump "responsibly". They also require the means and avenues to do this. Perhaps there is no correlation between skip removal and illegal dumping? Yet, on the flipside, perhaps there is? There are definitely other avenues of waste removal available in Shetland with the use of common sense and common decency!!

 

What is pertinent is that ideally, the people who dumped that mess at the side of the road will see this thread and be suitably ashamed and know in their hearts that they really are useless human beings.

 

I'm not even sure now why I'm replying to this as I feel I've been dragged into a dirty troll net! Why would that be?

[Colin]

I'm not even sure now why I'm replying to this as I feel I've been dragged into a dirty troll net! Why would that be?

Take the positives...

 

At the rest of us know that you now know how the guy operates....

[shetlandpeat]

May be the folk have lost interest, as reported in the paper, a lack of community councils cannot help the matter.

 

Hey, thanks for your post it certainly a breath of fresh air.

 

While you are scrutinising me, I guess it leaves others alone. Also, changed the topic...

 

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2014/10/04/seven-community-councils-stand-to-be-dissolved

 

Sadly, my post is not about how bad the council is or how folk are hard done by, if folk cannot be interested anymore, there is certainly a problem, however, it is tha councils fault, surely. What is the point of representing your community if they are constantly telling you how slester you are. Hence the demise (temp) of 7 bodies geared up to help the community. It is a shame that folk appear to give up.

 

My posts are no more inflamatory than many others on here, however, I await the threats.

[Ghostrider]

My posts are no more inflamatory than many others on here, however, I await the threats.

 

No need to wear the hat unless it fits. No-one mentioned inflamatory, several other things perhaps, yes, but that one is your perception only. Why you would expect to be "threatened" over a post either, is a bit of a mystery as well.

 

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.

[shetlandpeat]

Past accusations GR, we all post to get a reaction, what would be the point, because of this, threats were made to terminate accounts for no real reason.

 

Community councils can be very useful, it does however take folk with drive to take on the role, they can also be a vehicle for other projects within the community.

 

Refuse is one problem they can help with, they have in the past paid for skips, it is about thinking differently. I agree that they can appear to be of little worth, that can sadly be their demise of lack of drive. Community involvement is on the increase throughout the country, many do good things. They, because they constitute themselves can be involved in writing bids for external funding as well as from SIC (councils). If they can take on a role within the community that saves the council money, they can, in most instances get some funding.

 

The Lotto have been awarding community millions of pounds recently, generally, £100,000 per year for 10 years if the plan is right. Community councils and other neighbourhood groups can apply for this.

 

It is a good start to get onto the ladder to change what a few continually complain about on here. There is an opportunity, why not have a go? One way to get the rubbish from the community removed.

Edited October 4, 2014 by shetlandpeat

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

Don't the council have an obligation to investigate?  If so, we don't need a community council in order for the council to do what they are paid to do.  If other councils throughout the UK can manage to investigate flytipping, I fail to see why the SIC should be such spesal snowflakes that they shirk away from prosecuting the offenders and recover the costs in so doing in the process.

 

PS Yeah, on topic ... shocking.

[Ghostrider]

Peat, what CC's used to do is irrelevant. Since the SIC cut their funding they have no money to do anything with, and their role is "advisory" anyway - ergo they tell the SIC what they think, and the SIC does with them what they do with everyone else, ignore them unless it supports what their "officials" have already decided the SIC is going to do.

 

A Councillor is the lowest rank on the totem with any power, and the lowest rank worth taking anything up with - and even then its a hard struggle given how they're hamstrung by legislation, largely recent Scottish Government legislation, to influence any aspect of many things they theoretically at least have responsibility for.

 

Given the current climate of cuts, the sooner CCs are disbanded and the money swallowed up by their very existence re-allocated where it makes a real difference to folk, like maintaining roads, ice and snow clearing of roads, providing rubbish skips, maintaining street lighting in areas of dense population, especially those with a long standing and ongoing requirement for regular blue light attendance etc, the better for everybody. Money is being put in to something that has a virtually undetectable influence on the day to day lives of the folk its supposedly being spent on behalf of, and other things which do have a significant impact are being neglected, that is just plain wrong.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Ghostrider

[Colin]

 

Refuse is one problem they can help with, they have in the past paid for skips,

 

Have they?  If so, then this is a new one for me..

My wife was clerk to a community council for many years and, she says, that said community council DID NOT pay for skips.  Her duty (as clerk) was to simply administer their placement/removal on behalf of the SIC.

It was the SIC that paid for the skips (one of the few tangible things we got for our council tax)

They have now withdrawn that service as, apparently, £70,000 pa was to expensive(?) for them and, in their place, they now offer to collect 'up to 6 items' for £30.  Not to expensive but, £30 is £30 and, imho, it's little wonder that more stuff isn't thrown 'ower da banks'.

 

It is a great pity that so many cc's are short of numbers but, maybe that is their own fault.  They don't seem to be highly 'visible' parts of the community  these days (can't remember the last time I saw a meeting agenda displayed) and, I also believe that they are looked on with something approaching scorn by a lot of SIC officials.  I also believe that a number of these officials, and some councillors, would be only to happy with their demise..

[shetlandpeat]

Don't the council have an obligation to investigate?  If so, we don't need a community council in order for the council to do what they are paid to do. ....snip

 

 

The community council should over see the finer parts of the service. A two tier authority can be very beneficial. After all, you complain that SIC (councils) are a waste blah blah, yet you want the money for community projects handed back to them along with the money.

 

What I have found is that certain types do not agree with community, parish or town councils as they can lose control over them. It is a shame really.

 

The Environment Dept of SIC do have to investigate if a complaint is made directly to them. That has nothing to do with community counclis. But, they can organise at a more local level and perhaps find ways to stop any future dumping. As for the SIC getting paid, you get quite a bit for your money considering how much is spent by the council (SIC) compared to how much Council Tax you pay.

 

I suppose it depends what you want, to be continually fed services from the teat of the council at the same level will cost I would guess.

 

Hand it over to Serco, problem solved????

[Ghostrider]

 As for the SIC getting paid, you get quite a bit for your money considering how much is spent by the council (SIC) compared to how much Council Tax you pay.

 

Really, what exactly?

 

A half filled black bag of rubbish collected once a week is just about the only thing I get off them. The few street lights I once benefitted from have for the most part been fallen over now for years, and the one or two which are left are allegedly due to be turned off for the majority part of the time they are beneficial to me.

[Ghostrider]

The community council should over see the finer parts of the service. A two tier authority can be very beneficial. After all, you complain that SIC (councils) are a waste blah blah, yet you want the money for community projects handed back to them along with the money.

[snip.....]

 

The Environment Dept of SIC do have to investigate if a complaint is made directly to them. That has nothing to do with community counclis. But, they can organise at a more local level and perhaps find ways to stop any future dumping.

 

CCs don't, never have, and after 40 years of them not doing so, its naive, if not delusional to expect they ever will. They're toothless, powerless, ineffective talking shops.