Wheelie Bins In The News

Wheelie Bins In The News

What is it about wheelie bins that seems to attract so much negative attention. If they are not suffering at the hands of a vindictive old lady with a twisted hatred for random cats they are being burnt to the ground by mindless youths!

Every single day there are wheelie bins being set on fire in various parts of Great Britain. This is not just happening on the council estates either, it seems setting wheelie bins alight is the past time of many youths regardless of social class or background. Apart from the obvious annoyance of wheelie bins being burnt and the monetary cost to the owner of replacing, there is the bigger danger that wheelie bins are often placed close to buildings and depending on the contents this can cause a seriously big fire which is more than capable of putting homeowners lives as risk. On top of this there is the allocation of resources - fire engines and crew who could be putting out genuine fires are instead being called to put out deliberate fires in wheelie bins. Many youths of today may not give 2 hoots at the thought of firemen having to traipse out to put out their fire but how would they feel if their family were in danger and the fire crew took 10 minutes longer to get there because they were putting out a fire started deliberately in a wheelie bin. Too many of today's young have little thought of consequences and act on impulse which is heading towards more and more anti-social behaviour and violent crime. Rant over!

Back to the news! A Councillor in Darlington has praised the smooth integration of new wheelie bins in his local area which residents commenting that there is less litter on the streets now the new bins have been given out. Considering how long wheelie bins have been in main stream use it still amazes me that residents are having to put black bin bags out without anything to put them in.

In Stoneylaw a driver has had a head on collision with an out of control wheelie bin. Apparently the wheelie bin did not follow the correct procedure of looking right, left and right again before crossing. All joking aside the driver was lucky to escape without serious injury and although his car is damaged, it is not a write off. Tynedale council are blaming the residents for not adhering to their policy on wheelie bins whilst the wheelie bin owner is blaming "unpredictable weather conditions"

Residents in Newquay have started a Facebook campaign to get Cornwall Council to hand out wheelie bins to those that would like one. They are arguing that the rubbish that gets strewn across the pavements and driveways from seagull pecking is not only an eye sore but costing the council a lot of money. Cornwall council believes that if you offer it to only those that want a wheelie bin, it will not be long before everyone wants one and they say they simply cannot afford that. One option that might work for Cornwall is to charge residents who would like a wheelie bin a small levy for supplying the bin. The collection vehicles would need lift bars for the wheelie bins however and this would be an extra cost to consider should Cornwall council go forward with the levy.