Residents face fines in new rubbish collection scheme

Luke Jacobs Friday, February 1, 2013
11:10 AM

Householders in parts of Wimbledon will be forced to get up by 5am to put their rubbish as part of a council attempt to keep the streets clear.

Merton Council is to trial a time banding scheme that will allow people to leave waste out for one hour at a time, between 5am and 6am and 5pm to 6pm, on collection days, of face a fine.

The pilot has been introduced to keep refuse bags out of sight when the streets are most used by businesses, visitors and residents.

It will be piloted in Wimbledon town centre and Wimbledon village from April following a consultation.

If successful, the council said it would be rolled out across other town centres in the borough.

Householders are instructed to put their waste in an authorised sack immediately against their properties.

Cabinet member for performance and implementation, Cllr Mark Betteridge, said: “Time banding will help improve the cleanliness of our streets and make our town centres more pleasant and attractive for all.

“We want to make Wimbledon a destination town centre for people to visit.

“I would encourage residents and local businesses in the proposed time banded area to feed back their views on the scheme to Merton so we can ensure all views are considered.”

It comes after Kensington and Chelsea councillors discussed a move to reduce the number of bins it has installed on some of its side streets.

A spokesman said they attracted significant amounts of domestic and commercial dumping.

“Our policy, therefore, is to reduce the number of bins in side streets and instead concentrate on putting them where they have a clear positive impact, such as outside schools, fast food outlets, underground stations and retail areas,” he said.

“The intention is also to place some column mounted bins around garden squares.

“The impact of our policy is being closely monitored. We remain committed to being the cleanest borough in London.”