‘The large wheelie bins are hard to move even when empty’

• LIKE most of your readers, I received the small booklet from Camden and Veolia, its rubbish-collection partner, telling me what I can recycle, where and how, which is useful.

Sadly the main issue remains: demanding that all bins are placed “within a metre of the access point to your property” puts an unnecessary burden on every Camden resident: young or old, healthy or struggling.

The large wheelie bins are hard to move even when empty, and when full are almost impossible for many older people. And, over the last couple of years, the Veolia operatives have routinely failed to return the bins even that metre.

The alternative instruction “if you don”t have space then put your bins on the pavement” is even worse. This makes whole neighbourhoods looking like rubbish dumps for the whole of collection day.

Most homes in Camden are multi-occupied, with no one in charge of the bins and, since most people are working, the end result is that, all over, bins are left out on the street most of the day, making the whole of the borough look like a rubbish dump.

Camden must develop a new contract providing a proper collection service from properly designated areas, such as the one at the side of our house, rather than making residents do half the work. Where such accessible areas do not exist, discussions with those property owners should identify an alternative.

The house I live in is over 120 years old, with nine flats, and has had a sensible and efficient rubbish collection service for all that time – but not any more. This must be changed. The new system is not a service, it’s an imposition.

DAVID REED
NW3