Thanks for the useful tips. I shall get some ear plugs for my baby (should be fine as long as she doesn't choke on them) and I'll stop putting any of my waste in recycling, to reduce the disturbance to one day a week.
I can accept being woken up at 6am or 7am for a couple of days a week, but we should not need to accept them starting at 5am every week. I doubt that that start at 5am in every road in Lewisham, so at least they could have the courtesy to adjust their routes every few weeks so that the burden is shared.
Lewisham (Wearside Road depot) did tell me that they should absolutely not be starting before 6am so may be worth complaining if anyone has them persistently starting too early in their road.
Hmm, have tried that twice, the first time I was all but called a liar and the second time they didn't go so far but did tell me they couldn't have started that early as it was before their permitted start time.
Please remember the refuse collectors are working for us, we should appreciate the work they do and cease moaning!!
Sorry dbboy, we'll have to disagree on this one. And I doubt a single member of the crew feels they are working for us, they are just earning a living like most of us in our jobs.
The bin bods wake me too, but i try to make it a positive in that I'm, awake early and so maybe try to get to work early and finish a bit early too.
However, before you all start, that suits me, not everyone.
Having had a number of issues with the council service over the years, calling the numbers on the Lewisham website doesn't get you far. Using the council website complaint facility in a focussed way gets a waaaaaaaaay bigger response as it is considrered a KPI, or measure of service satisfaction and is monitered by people that moniter bad comments (and you know councils don't like their satisfaction levels diminished).
Staff don't necessarily deal with complaints or issues fully, in my experience, as it goes against them/their team/department etc workloads, outputs, outcomes etc etc. A shame, yes indeed.
Maybe try it and see what happens.
Big love
I too have spoken to the council and had been advised that i am lying! I will discuss this at the next local assemblly meeting when the council send someone to advise us all on how we can all do our bit for recycling! Considering the council say that they don't get any revenue for the recycling waste i think it is appauling that we all get disturbed for no benefit, financially or otherwise
Surely you can deal with a bin service that comes early? This is a good thing and I always find the chaps who work for LBC to be helpful, friendly and most importantly of all, good at their jobs! I don't think this is a task that can be done quietly (given noise the vans make plus logistics of getting large quantities of rubbish in one).
perhaps they might consider doing their rounds after 9am when everyone is at school, work or where they need to be for the day. They would then be free in the mornings at 5am to work at the depot sorting the recycling so it could be sold to reduce our council tax burden. I would certainly be happy with that!
I dont agree with them being good at their jobs, if that was the case we wouldnt hear them
Hear, hear, meduza.
If they were that good at their jobs I wouldn't have had to spend an inordinate amount of time walking up & down the road searching for the bin, which they cannot be bothered to leave outside the house.
And I wouldn't have had to complain to the office staff about this or about the ridiculously early time they start, and the accompanying (avoidable) noise.
Having said that, things have been OK for the last two weeks.
I'm sure the people who spend their lives working in the recycling and refuse collection industries could benefit from all the expertise you have in this area, why don't you give them a call and lend them a hand? You clearly understand the intricacies of running the waste and recycling services of a major London borough better than they do.
That's just a silly comment and is of no help to people whatsoever.
I have a right as as citizen to complain about services as does every user of every public service.
Watching Panorama this evening....food for thought....
three quarters of our ewaste ends up in Nigeria....
I wanted to highlight to you that it might not be so straightforward as you suggest and that your complainiing sometimes hinders the delivery of what many would consider to be a good service. Being Woken up once a week early, sometimes its worth gatting a bit of perspective.
Since the council recycling collections do not start until 6am I can only assume that is was the dustbin fairies who moved all the recycling bins in my street at 5:30am and woke my daughter. Why can't the fairies work more quietly?
Come on Michael, they have to get our rubbish to Nigeria by knocking-off time so they need an early start. Anyway, everyone else is enjoying the refuse collection service so we should be jolly good chaps and take one on the chin.
Waking up early does give you a chanve to hear Farming Today on Radio 4.
A real bonus.
Thats what I like about you Brian, always able to see the brighter side of things. Anyway, all that free time in the morning will give you plenty of opportunity to find something else to moan about.
If they missed your bins or didn't collect the rubbish then you'd have reason to moan, but they don't so why not appreciate the service they provide.