North Yorkshire Council has responded to criticism of its new system for street litter bins.
Some 1,500 smaller litter bins in the Harrogate area are being replaced by a smaller number of new larger bins.
Many of the new bins are situated alongside main roads rather on dog walking routes to make them easier for council workers to get to.
Some dog owners are dumping poo bags in areas where the old bins were rather than walk to main roads and put their dogs on leads.
Dog waste piling up in Jennyfields.
The Stray Ferret has recently reported concerns about this policy in Knox and Jennyfields.
Barrie Mason, assistant director for the environment at the council, said the old bins were removed following a service review and the new approach conformed with good practice guidance from the Waste and Recycling Action Partnership charity.
He said:
“We are currently implementing a new infrastructure for our street litter bins in the Harrogate area.
“The newer bins have a larger capacity and house a wheeled bin. This means they are efficiently emptied by our larger wagons, reducing the risk from manual handling individual bags.
“With the greater capacity, fewer bins are required which helps to reduce street furniture, particularly in locations where two bins may have been placed close together.”
Dog waste ‘no longer classified as hazardous’
Mr Mason added:
“We are implementing new routes which reduce the number of vehicle miles and emissions while freeing up our street cleansing teams to provide a more proactive service, including in our urban areas.
“There are some associated savings from the project, from a reduction in the amount of skips, single use plastic liners and fuel we use.
“Dog waste is no longer classified as hazardous waste and can now be placed in any bin, eliminating the need for specialist bins that further reduce street clutter and manual handling risks. This also means dog waste can be placed in owners’ general waste bins when they return home without adjusting walking routes.”
Read more:
- Call for urgent review of new bins after dog poo bags litter Jennyfields
- Council’s new dog poo policy causes a stink in Knox
Mr Mason said bins “are emptied less frequently” in off-road areas in places like Jennyfields “but will be emptied as frequently as required”. He added:
Call for urgent review of new bins after dog poo bags litter Jennyfields“The emptying frequencies and bin locations are something we’ll be continuing to monitor.
“The work in Jennyfields is still ongoing, and officers are communicating with the relevant local councillor over the new locations and any issues that may arise.
“Harrogate leisure centre has a large open space with a basketball court, so we will be installing a bin soon.”
A councillor has called for an urgent review of litter bins in the Jennyfields area of Harrogate after reports of dog poo bags piling up.
North Yorkshire Council has removed three bins close to Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre — formerly the Hydro — and replaced them with two larger bins.
The old bins were situated in areas used by walkers and dog owners but the new ones are alongside main roads.
This makes them easier to empty but less convenient for people using the fields around the leisure centre to use.
Consequently litter and dog waste bags are being left to pile up.
Councillor Michael Harrison, a Conservative who represents the area on North Yorkshire Council, said the new bins were designed for dog waste and general waste and are emptied by household waste collection crews rather than requiring a separate collection.
He added:
“These have been successfully rolled out in the other villages I represent after some initial teething problems.
“I am however aware of the specific concerns raised in Jennyfields and have asked for an urgent review of the number and siting of the bins.”
Dog owners are discarding dog waste where the bins used to be on the fields rather than carry it to Ripon Road.
Jennyfields residents have contacted the Stray Ferret with their concerns since the new bins arrived last week.
Elizabeth Horner said:
“I live near the Hydro fields and the amount of rubbish from having no bins in area has got disgusting.
“Sadly I’ve counted 15 bottles on the field today.”
Dog walker Diana Salama added:
“I have spoken to seven other dog walkers who regularly walk their dogs at the Hydro. All were puzzled and confused as there is nowhere to easily dispose of poo.
“One lady commented that to go up to the main road meant a long detour and putting the dog on a lead and she would not do this.
“Two were confused and had ended up taking poo home but had no intention of doing this ongoing. Two had left poo bags where the bin used to be.”
Read more:
- Council’s new dog poo policy causes a stink in Knox
- Royal Mail massively reduces opening times at Harrogate delivery office
She added:
“No one felt the new concept was effective for dog walkers even though it’s clearly better for the council.”
Ms Salama said there was particular anger at the removal of the bin next to the basketball court.
The field near the basketball court.
The Stray Ferret spoke to several dog walkers in the area this morning who agreed. They said the amount of litter and dog waste in this area, where young people congregate, was worrying.
We asked North Yorkshire Council why the change had been made and whether any consultation had been carried out.
However, a spokesperson said the officer responsible was currently on leave and therefore it could not comment.
New bins being rolled out across Harrogate district
The new bin policy is being rolled out across the Harrogate district. About 250 small bins are being replaced by larger ones.
Dog walkers in nearby Knox expressed concerns in June when the change was implemented there.
Maxie Schiffman-Rowinski has complained to the council about the new dog waste bin in front of her house in Knox.
Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge on the council, said the situation would be reviewed at the end of next month.
Cllr Haslam said the new approach freed up time for the street cleansing team to do other jobs, such as sweep streets.
He added it was also more environmentally friendly because the larger bins contained wheelie bins that could be emptied by machines whereas the smaller old bins contained plastic bags that had to be replaced regularly.
Council’s new dog poo policy causes a stink in KnoxA change in the council’s bin regime is seeing dog-waste pile up by the roadside, according to local residents.
Over the last week, North Yorkshire Council has removed the familiar red dog-waste bins from Knox, which is on the north-west edge of Harrogate. In their place, they have put green wheelie bins, but not all in the same positions as the bins they replace.
Knox resident Maxie Schiffmann-Rowinski said:
“They’ve put a wheelie bin right outside our house, and now it’s filling up with dog poo and it really stinks in this warm weather.
“All of us living down here are pretty angry about this. This lane is very popular with dog-walkers, and some who don’t know about the green bin are just leaving their dog-poo bags on the ground where the dog-waste bin used to be.
“I’ve complained to the council via their online form, but had no reply.”
Asked about the move, Karl Battersby, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, told the Stray Ferret the bins had been removed following a service review, and that the council was being guided by good practice outlined by the Waste and Recycling Action Partnership in its Right Bin, Right Place study.
He said:
“The newer bins have a larger capacity and house a wheeled bin. This means they are efficiently emptied by our larger wagons, reducing the risk from manual handling individual bags. With the greater capacity, fewer bins are required which helps to reduce street furniture, particularly in locations where two bins may have been placed close together.
“This and other new bins will be emptied less frequently due to the increase in capacity, but they will be emptied as often as required, taking seasonal variances into account.
“The replacement bin at the end of Knox Lane was planned to be further down the lane, in close proximity to existing street furniture. We will check it’s correctly positioned.”
The council has installed a large new bin at the end of Knox Lane… but some dog-walkers have yet to get the message.
Paul Haslam, the North Yorkshire councillor serving Bilton and Nidd Gorge, said he was party to the decision-making process that led to the policy change, but that it had not been implemented as he had imagined it would be. He said:
“This looks like a well-intentioned project that’s gone wrong. I agreed with the principle behind the plans: to make it easier by using more machinery, which in some cases would result in changes of locations and frequency of emptying.
“But it’s quite obvious that the way it’s turned out is not ideal – there are not enough bins and some of them are in the wrong place.”
North Yorkshire Council’s Mr Battersby said that the bin replacements in Bilton and Knox would be followed by others in Harrogate.
He said:
“Surrounding parishes have already had the work completed, and Bilton is the first of the urban areas to start and receive the new bins.”
But Cllr Haslam said the policy needed to be reviewed and that’s what the council would do. He said:
“I’ll be meeting with street-cleansing officers on Monday and we’ll be going over the whole of the Bilton and Knox area and seeing how it can be improved.
“The council is not going to roll any more bins out until we’ve got Bilton and Knox right.”
Read more:
- Concerns over ‘undemocratic’ planning meeting on Knox Lane houses
- Harrogate council defends new ‘oversized’ bins
- Discarded dog poo bags leaving Harrogate ‘disgusted’
Calls to relocate litter bins in Ripon
An audit of litter bins is being conducted in Ripon to ensure they are more evenly spread out.
Once the audit is complete, Harrogate Borough Council will be asked to relocate some of the city’s bins to areas of greater footfall.
Councillors at last week’s full Ripon City Council meeting said that while some areas are well served with bins for rubbish and dog waste, there is a dearth of them in other parts of Ripon.
Councillor Stephen Craggs, who is carrying out the city-wide audit to pinpoint the location of bins, said:
“If you look at Spa Park for example, there are six bins within close proximity to each other, but if you walk down to Clotherholme Road on the route that many Outwood and Ripon Grammar students use to go to school, they are in short supply.”
Clotherholme Road, one of the principal walking routes for students going to Outwood Academy and Ripon Grammar, has a shortage of litter bins
He added:
“At a time when we are encouraging children to walk to school, it makes sense to have litter bins that they can use along the way to avoid discarded rubbish ending up in hedgerows.
“It’s not a case of asking for new bins to be installed, but for a better distribution of them on the routes that are used by pedestrians and dog walkers.”
Read More:
Council leader Andrew Williams, who has received complaints about the lack of litter bins from residents in his ward, agrees with Cllr Craggs.
He said:
“If you add the six bins at Spa Park to the nine at Spa Gardens and the one outside Spa Baths, we have a concentration of 16 in a relatively compact area and these need to be spread out, so that they are serving more people.”
Councillors have been asked to come forward with details of any lack of litter and dog waste bins in the areas of the city that they represent, so that recommendations for relocation of existing bins can be put forward to Harrogate Borough Council.
Stray Views: Don’t blame dog mess on long grass
Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.
Don’t blame dog mess on long grass
May I respectfully suggest that long grass is not the reason for dog fouling. It is due to irresponsible dog owners breaking the law.
Nigel Heptinstall, Darley
Rossett School is fantastic!
So often the press around schools and education is negative. I just thought I’d like to highlight the fantastic reception my daughter has had at Rossett School since she started there in September 2020.
Written off by her previous school as not academic, she came to the school quite depressed about life. Life at Rossett has utterly changed her into a hard-working girl with an array of options ahead of her.
This is a remarkable turnaround and the school should be applauded for taking in a pupil who had such a low opinion of herself and turned it around inside an academic year. The teaching has been fantastic during a very challenging time for educators and pupils alike. Thank you, Rossett!
Nick Bentley, Harrogate
These bins are a menace
Read more:
- Big blue bins create ‘eyesore’ in Harrogate’s premier shopping area
- Harrogate’s Commercial Street to host dog-friendly day
Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.