IN RESPONSE to Mr Dickson's letter, dated September 4, contrary to your comment that my

letter was 'misleading', it gave a clear and precise view of the problems faced by many residents with the recycling system.

From recent articles and letters in the local papers it is evident residents still face ongoing issues and problems that simply are not being addressed in a proactive manner by the council since the new system has been introduced.

My own recycling bin was not returned after being emptied, it took approximately four weeks for a replacement to be provided, and the new bin was delivered broken.

On September 19 the council delivered 550 new containers to households due to bins missing or being broken because of the way the contractors have handled them and there is still a huge backlog of up to three or four weeks.

In the meantime, the service desk advises me to put all my recycled items into the bin reserved for landfill.

Is this Bob Dickson's idea of a quick response?

I am somewhat confused by his comment 'in the past 12 months recycling and composting rates have almost doubled to 50 per cent'.

When I enquired last year, Kingston Council was unable to provide any figures on the amount of garden waste collected and informed

me it did not monitor this. Mr Dickson failed to comment or answer any of the important issues.

The council reports it has saved £284,000 from landfill tax, but where has this money gone? Why is there no mention of how the council is tackling the way bins are left blocking pavements and driveways, creating safety hazards?

Why does Villiers Road no longer accept certain types of hazardous waste, like asbestos? Why are the queues at Villiers Road so long? Is the council reviewing households that do not have adequate space for the waste containers? When will the correct vehicles be in operation?

Why was there an increase of 80 per cent for fortnightly garden waste collections?

DANIEL GOODGER Chessington