Wheelie bins cause a stink

A popular sport in Ilkley is Bradford Council bashing. The prospect of wheelie bins has led to the usual condemnation of 'them at Bradford'.

This appears premature as the council has promised there will be no question of pensioners having to drag wheelie bins up and down steep steps and long drives.

It is convenient to seize upon this image and paint Bradford Council as uncaring and dismissive of the Ilkley district.

This newspaper has received nothing but complaints about the prospect of wheelie bins but the arguments put forward by Bradford Council cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Coun Keith Thomson tells us we are all very good at producing waste but not so keen to see it dumped in landfill sites on our doorstep.

Objecting to a change in the present system is fine but surely the cost of landfill will only increase and hence bigger Council Tax bills.

It all depends on your point of view. People are essentially conservative and don't like change. Coun Thomson has faced accusations of 'you're just doing it to save money'.

However he has pointed out the council has to reduce its waste by law and vastly increase the level of recycling.

People should show some responsibility for the waste they create. If the council's promise of recycling trays becomes reality this should be welcomed.

Yes, people are paying for their waste to be removed and the very act of having to wheel a bin to a certain point for collection is inconvenient - but nothing more than that for the majority of people.

The security factor cannot be ignored however. Councillors in Ilkley and Addingham are correct to say a wheelie bin not 'wheeled' to its correct position is an open invitation to burglars.

It remains to be seen how hot under the collar residents will remain if and when the bins become part of their everyday life.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.