The main concern for residents in Northfield and West Heath since late last year has been wheelie bins. There have been missed collections with recycling seemingly the worse. It's outrageous that the assisted collection system for less able residents hasn't been working as it should be and there have also been lots of complaints about bins being left haphazardly after they've been emptied, making life dangerous for those with sight impairments, those on motorised scooters and anyone with young children in pushchairs. Lids being left open has been another bugbear especially with all the rain we've had. No one has found it easy to empty water from their bin and amazingly, even after a short time, bins have been damaged during the mechanised emptying process. Unbelievably all this is before the Labour Council admitted they bought the wrong size wagons - apparently they're too wide for some of our roads!
There could be no excuse for the wrong size wagons in the stretch of road where Councillor Randal Brew lives, his home was just missed off the recycling collection rota and despite his best efforts he couldn't get his recycling collected on the correct day for almost two months. He said "I'm sure someone was just trying to prove that the problems with the "service" applied to everyone, including City Councillors!"