Issues raised by the Residents of Great Yarmouth Borough Community at Great Yarmouth People Steering Group
Resident Issue 1
A person decided as they had not been provided with a bin at the time that they would dump some of their waste into a neighbours bin. This resulted in the lid to the bin remained fully open. Fortunately a neighbour saw what had taken place and dealt with it. They also approached the person and explained politely the possible consequences of her action which result in them receiving some abuse.
Great Yarmouth People Views:
Q. Is this true?
Some individuals might deliberately indulge in this behaviour to exact revenge or out of pure spite on someone they did not like.
Q. What is in place to ensure this does not happen
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
It is highly unlikely that GYBC would seek to penalise a householder in these circumstances. Generally, GYBS refuse employees apply common sense. They would remove the excess waste from the top, empty the bin and replace the extra waste in the bin. It would be prudent for a resident suffering abuse of their bin to report this to GYBC immediately so that it can be investigated.
Resident Issue 2
Q1. Is she expected to sort out and recycle her rubbish?
Q2. Is there support available for her in Great Yarmouth?
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
Such a resident will be entitled to an assisted collection (the refuse crew will come to get the bins). If the lady cannot recycle, GYBC can authorise removal of the green bin in such circumstances.
Resident Issue 3
GYP Views:
This is not something an elderly, disabled or sick person should have to tackle!
Q1. Is there a service is in place to ensure this does not happen?
Q2. If no service then what is the official advice?
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
As above, the resident can apply to GYBC for an assisted collection and the crew will collect the bins from the property.
Resident Issue 4
GYP Views:
How someone who was disadvantaged be able to cope with this situation
Q Is there a possibility we will return to weekly collections in the not too distant future?
General View: It would seem that some of the draconian measures in place connected to the disposal of rubbish are farcical.
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
There are no plans to introduce weekly collections nor could GYBC consider them without a large council tax burden to the residents. They would require an extended fleet of vehicles and crews to support them.Responsible residents who wrap food waste adequately do not experience the problem described here. Measures are neither draconian or farcical. They are designed to give the best possible service to the resident at best-value to the Borough.
Resident Issue 5
Q1. Is this the normal procedure?
Q2. If so how is this cost efficient and better for the environment?
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
GYBC do not have responsibility for the CA site at Caister. This is run by Norfolk County Council and any query re the site should be addressed directly to NCC. Please note that GYBC do run a chargeable bulk item collection service. If a resident wants items collected, they can ring 01493 846846 to book a collection.
Norfolk County Councils Response
Norfolk County Council restricts the amount of DIY waste that residents can dispose of at its recycling centres to the equivalent of one 80 litre sack or one large item per week (for example one door, one fence panel, a toilet, a bath tub). DIY waste is classed as anything fixed or fitted to your property, something you wouldn’t take with you if you moved house. This policy has been in place for nearly 10 years now. Under current government legislation DIY waste is classed as ‘construction and demolition’ waste which falls under the category of industrial waste and is therefore not something we legally have to accept. As a consequence DIY waste disposal is not included in council tax.
We do realise that there is a need to dispose of DIY waste and therefore as a concession a small amount can be disposed of each week. Norfolk County Council also provides at the seven main recycling centres (Caister included) the facility where additional amounts of DIY waste can be disposed of for a charge, dependant on the load. This proves to be much cheaper than skip hire and has been well received since its introduction in April 2007. Were we to accept unlimited amounts of DIY waste at our recycling centres Norfolk’s tax bill would increase by £1 million.
We appreciate residents concerns regarding the environment and our DIY policy; ultimately the policy tries to encourage those who are conducting medium or large scale DIY projects to find alternative methods of dealing with the waste, whilst achieving best value for the Norfolk tax payer. This may include re-use (such as through on-line re-use facilities such as Freegle or Freecycle) or by hiring a skip to remove the waste in one load. We do advise that when carrying out DIY work, residents take into consideration the cost of disposal.
We aim to provide a service that is of best value to the Norfolk tax payer; this is why we allow a small amount of DIY to be accepted free of charge each week. The DIY waste policy is reviewed on a regular basis. We take into account all feedback, complaints and compliments regarding our policies and your residents comments have been documented as part of this.
Resident Issue 6
Q1. Can this not be organised out of normal hours?
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
As above. This needs to be addressed to NCC.
Norfolk County Councils Response
During any day there is a requirement for full bins to be changed for empty ones. When this happens the site is closed to ensure public safety whilst the hook-lift vehicle is moving bins. This can mean that a site may be closed for up to a maximum of 30 minutes at one time. This inevitably means that there will be a delay in accessing the site.
A sign should be displayed at the entrance to the site warning of the delay, and a member of staff should be available to respond to any enquiries at the gate.
It is very difficult to predict when bins will become full and therefore when a change will be required. More bin changes will usually take place after a weekend on a Monday or Tuesday, or in advance of a weekend on a Saturday morning.
We are not able to exchange the bins outside of the recycling centre normal opening hours (October to March: 08:00–16:00. April to September: 08:00–18:00). This would result in us being in breach of our planning consent and environmental permit, which can result in enforcement by the planning authority and Environment Agency.
Resident Issue 7
Issue: people risk a puncture on the potholed dirt track that leads to the site!
Issue: People risk of scratching the interior, ripping the seats, stinking the car out with rotting vegetation.
GYP Views:
In effect this is asking residents to use our cars as a borough dust cart.
Many people are complaining about having the responsibility of waste disposal dumped on them.
Great Yarmouth Borough Councils Response
As above. This needs to be addressed to NCC.
Norfolk County Councils Response
Norfolk County Council carries out inspections at all the recycling centres across Norfolk every month. On these inspections the condition of the hard standing within the site and the access road to the site is monitored. Please report any pot holes or repair work that is needed on the road that leads to the site, Pump Lane, to Norfolk’s Highways department so that they can carry out any necessary repair works.
Email: highways@norfolk.gov.uk
Web: https://online.norfolk.gov.uk/HighwayProblemReport/
Tel: 0344 800 8009
The recycling centres are in place for residents to dispose of additional waste and recycling that cannot be collected via the district kerbside collection service. At present Great Yarmouth Borough Council collects dry recyclables (paper, card, aerosols, cans and plastic bottles) and domestic general waste on an alternative weekly collection. It also offers a green waste collection in some areas (for a charge) and a chargeable bulky waste collection service. The kerbside collection service is designed to give the best possible service to the resident at the best value of the Norfolk tax payer.
Boot liners can be purchased for most garden centres so residents can choose to use these when transporting items to the recycling centres. When the new re-use shelter opened at Caister in November 2009 Norfolk County Council did a ‘boot liner giveaway’ for the first fifty customers.
If you wish to make any comment regarding any of the above you need be registered on the site and be logged in to the site.
You can either select add comment at the bottom right of the news item page or post reply on the Household Waste section of the 96k Community Forum
Great Yarmouth People Steering Group
It is the general view of GYP that more effort should be made to involve and consult with local people.
GYP is available to give them a voice and present the issues to those who are best able to resolve these problems. We would like to encourage the decision making bodies in Great Yarmouth to use, support and take full advantage of GYP and its existing communication, consultation mechanisms to provide a way for local residents, community, voluntary and faith groups to have a central role in turning their neighbourhoods around.
Purpose of the GYP steering group
To enable Great Yarmouth Borough residents, community, voluntary and faith groups to play a central role in their neighbourhoods through the Local Strategic Partnership and its various forums, ensuring their views are taken into account when decisions are being made and its own aims and plans are carried out.
for more information on GYP contact sarah.hill@communityconnections.org.uk
or call 01493 656372
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