Refuse collection works just fine

HILLINGDON has the most efficient refuse collection I know (Rubbish bags are reason for mess, Letters, July 3).

Who in their right mind wants rows and rows of multi-coloured bins along roads and in front of houses?

J MASON

Hayes

Wheelie bins are a waste of time

I THINK the rubbish collection service in Hillingdon is excellent (reference as above).

We used to suffer from animal scavenging but I bought two cheap plastic dustbins, with clip-on lids, and put plastic bags containing anything that would attract animals in them before putting them out at night (our collection is early morning).

The dustmen are quite happy to take the bags out of the bins and the problem is solved. Much better than clumsy, expensive wheelie bins.

KEVIN MASARATI

The Rise, Hillingdon

Three cheers for reliable dustmen

While I have empathy with the lady concerning rubbish in our streets (reference as above), if some residents would apply a little common sense when putting out rubbish, for example double-wrapping residual food, it would not be a problem.

Wheelie bins are not the answer because they are unsightly and for some residents there is no space to keep them.

Bins can go ‘missing’ due to anti-social behaviour, and the collection of waste would take longer, causing unnecessary traffic delays.

LBH offers the best-run rubbish and recycling service for a borough of this magnitude. I have watched the collectors and they work very hard and efficiently and those who operate in my street do clean up spilled bags.

If there is any residual left near my house then I am quite happy to clean it up myself.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

GILLIAN

Resident of Brunel ward

Via email

Full marks for one of best systems

LAST week, Emma McKendrick complained about the use of bags for refuse collection (reference as above). I take the opposite view and believe Hillingdon’s system is one of the best.

A visit to Harrow demonstrates the downside of wheelie bins. There is hardly enough room for them in small gardens and they are unsightly.

Our system is cheaper and needs very little sorting by householders. The problem of fox and bird disturbance can easily be resolved by placing the bag overnight in an old-fashioned plastic dustbin. On our round, the refuse collectors always remove the bag from the bin and generally do not create much litter.

I give full marks for a good system.

DAVID HERRIOTT

Via email

Take initiative and use a plastic bin

THE first question should be who will pay for the wheelie bins?

If Emma McKendrick assumes the council should supply them free, then I think you need to consider the vast cost involved in supplying each household with the bins.

Also the council would need to change its collection vehicles to be able to lift the bins. I assume all this expense would have to be paid for by a large increase in our council tax.

Maybe a better answer would be for her and other households to buy their own plastic dustbin and put their black bags into this. Then all the collector has to do is remove the bags from the bin, which foxes, cats etc will be unable to get at. Simples!

D COYNE

Via email

Older people are to be valued

IN THE story Ageing population ‘an enormous issue’ (Gazette, July 3), MP Nick Hurd said that in Northwood and Northwood Hills the number of elderly people is much higher than the national average.

The article reported that in order to address this growing problem, representatives of schools, religious groups, Hillingdon Council and volunteers gathered, as they want to make older and housebound people aware of the services on offer.

This is very positive news, as many elderly people are isolated and would value help and companionship. However, too often politicians describe older people as being a ‘problem for society’. If any other sector was described as ‘a burden’, such as women, young people etc, there would rightly be an outcry!

Older people are normally law-abiding and honest. Much of the voluntary sector is kept going by retired people. The WRVS produced an in-depth report which found that in 2010, the over-65s made a net contribution of at least £40billion to the UK economy, after pensions and bus passes were taken into account.

Older people make frequent donations to charities. Many look after grandchildren while their parents are at work, which is estimated to save the economy at least £10bn a year.

Older people are an asset to be valued – and not just ‘a problem.’

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

We will not give in to developers

LIKE many other concerned residents of Northwood, on Monday [last week] I attended the public meeting about the proposal of a megastore and very large housing development in the heart of our small suburban town’s centre.

What quickly became apparent was the strength of feeling; I have never experienced such passion in any assembly of people. Not only are they against the plan but they feel they have been personally and deeply betrayed, not only by the Mayor of London and his administration but also by their own elected representatives.

We must at least respect our councillors for having the guts to turn up and face a packed and increasingly hostile meeting, unlike our MP, who stayed away citing more urgent parliamentary matters and who had merely sent a letter to be read to us at the meeting.

It is surely clear to those of us who value our community in Northwood, of which I was particularly proud to be a part that night, that we have a real fight on our hands.

I think we will win, but only if we are even more ruthless than the forces that oppose us.

We will resist this development, to the level of civil disobedience if necessary, to make sure the plan is inoperable and not profitable, and to ensure our town is still a real community to be proud of and where our children can thrive and want to stay.

JONATHAN HUTCHINS

Hallowell Road, Northwood

Traffic calming is anything but

HILLINGDON Council can say what they like after the event, but I did not hear about the Hatch Lane closure until a neighbour told me (Villagers’ anger over traffic calming, Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette, June 26).

Let’s talk about traffic calming. Whoever thought of bumps in the road has his or her head somewhere other than on their shoulders.

There are already speed bumps in Sipson Road near my house, and I am woken up every night, usually more than two or three times, because of them.

Oh, for the thought of a steady purr, roar or even a steady chug of passing traffic. Instead I get the squeal of breaks or the thump, bang or scrape of vehicles going over the bumps. Forget ‘calming’.

“Less polluting,” I hear someone say; what, by the time a driver has changed down a gear or two, then gone over a bump in second or first gear, then revved up to accelerate away, dropping all sorts of stuff from the underside of the vehicle with the exhaust belching out for a much longer time in the same spot? Better environment? Please.

One of these days someone who actually understands traffic will be asked to make a decision that involves traffic. But I’m afraid until then we have to put up with idiots thinking they are cleverer than others simply because they go to work in a suit and try to look serious.

Whoever thought of speed cameras with a 30mph speed limit painted on the road has their head in the right place.

GEOFF COX

Via email

Tory deselection was pointless

I AM appalled at the decision to de-select Andrew Retter from next year’s election, having known Andrew for at least 25 years and seen the dedication he has to the party (Tory gutted at the loss of his party ticket, Gazette, June 26).

Andrew has worked tirelessly at all elections, not just for Hillingdon, and for many years put in a lot of his time helping Hayes and Harlington Conservatives. This decision seems pointless when he has so much knowledge of the borough and the public.

As for his age, surely it is better to have young people involved rather than some of the councillors who are well past retirement age? As we all know, as one gets older the brain does not work so well.

Also how many of the existing councillors live in the borough? How can these represent their particular ward?

Maybe the real answer is that Andrew speaks his mind and takes on board comments received from his constituents.

Surely the idea of committees is to discuss various views and not to just agree with whoever is chairing such meetings?

I think this is a big mistake and the proof will be at the next election when new and possibly unknown people stand.

MH

Hayes

Help research into big beasts

I AM chairman of a research group that aims to prove the existence of large wild cats in the British Isles.

Earlier this year, we had a sighting at 4am in Northwood Hills [see below] and it has become very apparent in recent years big cat sightings have become more urban in nature.

We would like to appeal for people in areas in the urban fringe of London to come forward anonymously, via our website, with their sightings. Maybe they have seen an unidentified animal late at night in their headlights, maybe a pet has gone missing or you have heard roaring sounds at night; no matter how insignificant, we would love your emails.

In the past there have been distinct reports of pumas and black leopards in South Harrow, Pinner, Northolt, Uxbridge, Denham, Ruislip, Rickmansworth and Edgware.

Contrary to common belief, these species live in very highly populated towns in their countries of origin and can go completely unnoticed for years.

The information you give will be correlated on maps to help our group research this growing phenomenon.

PAUL NICOLAIDES

Head researcher,

Big Cats of the Chilterns

From www.bigcatsofthechilterns.co.uk:

“My wife and three friends were coming back from a house party in Ruislip. As they turned down Joel Street approaching Northwood Hills, they all, including the cab driver, saw a very long, large, black, bounding, cat-like creature sprint across the road.

“It crossed from a residential area on the left to allotments on the right, vanishing through a gap in the chain link fence.

“Three of the four people in the car saw the cat, the cab driver saying: “What is that?”

“My wife said she knew it was a big cat straight away. Subconsciously at first glance her mind tried to put a dog in the frame but it was no way a dog or a fox.”