BINMAGEDDON!: Rubbish piled high in our winter of discontent

This is what happens when the council’s rubbish contractors don’t visit the recycling bins at Forestdale over the Christmas and New Year period

If you thought that the images of over-flowing wheelie bins around the borough, after numerous missed collections by Croydon’s rubbish contractors, Veolia, were bad enough, this scene (above), at Forestdale should be very troubling indeed.

The photograph was taken before the weekend, and submitted by our loyal reader.

The recycling bins were full to overflowing even before the Christmas break.

Since then, residents have taken to dumping their black bin bags where they can, and over the course of a just a fortnight, the unattended civic amenity site has become a landfill tip.

It’s clearly a hazard to public health, and a bonanza for rats, foxes and vermin.

One loyal reader has compared the scenes around the borough to the notorious “Winter of Discontent”, in 1978-1979, when local authority workers across the country went on strike for a prolonged period. It was what ultimately broke the Labour government of James Callaghan, leading to the election of Thatcher, and all that followed.

Thing is, those piles of rubbish 40 years ago were because the bin men were on strike.

Croydon’s piles of rubbish in 2019 are building up while Veolia are still at work. And Council Tax-payers are footing the bill for this “service”.


About insidecroydon

News, views and analysis about the people of Croydon, their lives and political times in the diverse and most-populated borough in London. Based in Croydon and edited by Steven Downes. To contact us, please email inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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4 Responses to BINMAGEDDON!: Rubbish piled high in our winter of discontent

  1. Stephen Pollard says:

    Wow, I can’t believe this terrible mess, it is not only painful for the eyes but a real health hazard and a breeding ground for rats, foxes and other vermin. I thought our bins were overflowing somewhat over the Christmas/New Year break, butt the general rubbish and recycling bins have been emptied this last week. Barry Lambton should be the man to sort this Fieldway mess out

  2. sebastiantillinger7694 says:

    Why doesn’t the council run its own refuse collection service like other councils do? Is it because (a) it’s more cost effective and provide a better service out sourcing or (b) nobody in the council has the will, experience of management skill to take the task on.

    ????

    This is the council who outsourced the running of its public libraries to a construction company. Lol

    • Not many other councils do run their own refuse service these days. The drive to privatise every public service around, handing it over to private companies to squeeze every penny of profit from the public purse that they can, has been influencing such decisions since the Thatcherite 1980s, without a moment’s pause under Blairism.
      Sutton dumped their in-house refuse service within the past two years so that they could sign up fully to the very opaque South London Waste Partnership, of which Croydon is also a member, and it was based on Croydon’s experience with Veolia that they got the four-borough contract.

      But that may not last very long…

  3. Hatim Chakera says:

    Having been already awarded the three out of 10 worst High Streets in greater London, perhaps Croydon Council is working hard to get awarded for more of the remaining high streets of this totally mismanaged borough

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