The official Lewisham tip is too far away so we actually use the Lambeth tip which is at the bottom of Gypsy Hill. You are of course supposed to have a permit and be a Lambeth resident but we have never been asked for it. It's a pretty basic small tip (but they do have battery recycling).

We also use the Bromley tip if we happen to be driving that way, and yes we have sometimes been asked for a permit, not every time, depends who is there. (Do you know anyone in Bromley you could borrow a permit from?)

It's all a bit ridiculous, I am sure this is what most sensible people do - and I justify it to myself by saying that it's more environmentally friendly to go to the tip that is closest to you rather than the one you are 'officially' supposed to use!

(And yes I am a keen freecycle user, but sometimes the tip is unavoidable).

My other bugbear is garden waste e.g. prunings, clippings etc. I have two compost bins but there is often too much to compost. To get the Council to collect it I have to go to the library, buy the bags (?1 each!), phone for them to be collected, phone again when they still haven't been collected and have been sitting on my driveway for a week ... Many other Councils seem to provide brown wheelie bins for this, why oh why can't ours?