There have been changes to the Manchester City Council rubbish collections in Levenshulme and Longsight. In my local area, Levenshulme, the black wheelie bins have been replaced by bigger communal bins in the alleyways for general waste as well as paper and glass recycling.
Whilst for me personally this has not been a problem, there does seem to be a high level of confusion about the changes. There are some people who use still use and put out their black wheelie bins whilst other people have simply been dumping their black bin bags at the end of the alley, open to the elements and local cats and dogs!
Overall I think there has been a negative impact on the area with rubbish piling up and streets looking messy.
With this in mind the local Friends Of Levenshulme group are supporting a 'Bin these rubbish changes' protest regarding the cuts to rubbish collections in Manchester outside the Town Hall in Albert Square this Saturday, 6th August at 1.30pm.
To quote from their press release:
Longsight and Levenshulme residents have called a protest on Saturday 6 August 2011 at Manchester Town Hall against Manchester City Council’s changes to rubbish collection in the city. Residents are concerned about the Council’s decision to move to fortnightly rubbish collection which impacts upon the local environment, creates loss of pride and hygiene in the area and places an increased work load on rubbish collection workers. Residents want to know why council tax bills are calculated with weekly rubbish collections which are no longer delivered. Residents want to know why the obvious cost of an increase in the number of vermin and rats in particular is being placed upon residents in the form of a charge for extermination services when the increase is a direct consequence of council policy.
Rubbish is already piling up in Longsight and Levenshulme with a large number of grey bins overflowing for a week. This means the rubbish will pile up in alleyways, by alley gates (making them useless) and in the street. Neighbourhoods become a health hazard to children as a result.
The council decision is creating greater long term costs to the city so any savings are illusory. There must be weekly rubbish collection in the Manchester city area. Public health is more important and the council tax is paid for this reason.
To find out more about the friends of Levenshulme group email levenshulmecampaign@gmail.com
