What is it with all these local Councils and they're "innovative" ideas for dealing with rubbish collections? We've had bugs in wheelie bins to weigh rubbish, arbitrary limits on collections leaving rotting rubbish on streets, calls to withdraw the wheelie bin bugs and make them voluntary, and now we have a Council asking people to report their neighbours for not recycling.
In the case of the last on that list, it's reported the Council has set up a hotline and has delivered leaflets which say: "Do you know of someone in your road who is not doing their bit? Do you feel strongly enough about it to let us help them? Then contact us free on 0800 7310323 and a recycling sheriff will be there to assist."
There's something horribly Orwellian about this, not only because it's asking people to snitch on behalf of political masters but the language the leaflet chooses to use. For whilst the use of fines is made clear by the Council, the leaflet attempts to portray those it intends to punish as merely needing "help". The language cynically masks the punitive reality of the policy.
For anyone wondering, it's a Liberal Democrat Council.
3 comments:
Orwellian, indeed. Another instance of NuLabour regimentation and compulsion at a time when violent crime is continuing to spiral out of control and very little is being done about it. Obey or face the consequences. Householders can now face fines of up to £2,500 for putting the 'wrong rubbish' in their bins. More than 10 councils have introduced penalties for those who put recyclable matter into general waste, or 'contaminate' recycling boxes with other rubbish. Mayor Livingstone is naturally a great supporter of such plans.
Here İn İstanbul, the concept of recycling rubbish is a somwhat alien one. You are free to do whatever you please with your rubbish and dump it wherever you like...
The reason we are in this situation is because the Government has not planned how to deal with its household waste and recycling, our landfill sites our filling to such an extent that Ken Livingstone wants to export his city's rubbish to East Anglia. The UK has to meet EU targets and is far behind other European countries, else it will be heavily fined. This Government has consistently failed to engage with the public on this issue and get them involved and interested, instead it is panicking and is being very heavy handed. It could have all been so very different if they had dealt with this properly, instead of ignoring it.
Ellee is correct here. It is years of central government inaction that has led us to the current siutation. We desperately need more incinerators but they are not forthcoming.
However, this issue also highlights one of the negatives of the Tories wish to de-centralise everything to councils. Council are often run by inept little hitlers who want to be as oppressive as possible in the name of 'community responsibility.'
A case for strong central guidelines as the middle way perhaps?
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