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Bin men get up early, don't they?
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Nick2


Posts: 6
Joined: Mar 2017
Post: #1
13-03-2017 10:06 AM

I was woken up this morning at 6:21 by binmen doing their thing. They come at a similar time every week and it is simply impossible to sleep through it. I appreciate the need for an early start for them, but I'm now going to bed early on Sunday in anticipation, so it's certainly having an impact.

I can't find any information online about regulations on start times - does anyone know if any regulation covers this?

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #2
13-03-2017 11:20 AM
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Nick2


Posts: 6
Joined: Mar 2017
Post: #3
13-03-2017 11:39 AM

Thanks Michael. I read it all - the take-home message seems to be that I better get used to it.

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humbolt


Posts: 9
Joined: Feb 2016
Post: #4
13-03-2017 02:10 PM

There's no doubt that bin-men the world over have to get used to early starts. Lewisham is no exception, and neither should it be. Thank goodness we're spared the night long refuse collection that routinely takes place in cities sur le continent.

But the facts are, they have a lot of refuse to collect from a lot of addresses. If they wait around for normal office hours to start before they go about their business, then just think how much longer their day would be? Sat in bumper to bumper traffic on Honor Oak Rd for example? Imagine how infuriated commuting motorists will feel being held up behind a bin lorry making frequent stops along the way?

The reality of the modern 'daily grind' for many of us is rising early for work. I have a neighbour who regularly departs the premises in his car at between 03.30 and 04.00. six days per week. And yes, this does wake me and others in my building.

When the bin men call at around 06.30 in my neighbourhood, and I'm disturbed by them, it must be my day off because I'm out of my bed by 06.00 at the start of my daily work routine.

I don't wish to diminish the frustration and annoyance experienced by those of us woken by noise, especially when we sooner sleep. But we're a district of Greater London, one of the worlds largest urban conurbations not a rural idyll.

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Decker


Posts: 116
Joined: Nov 2014
Post: #5
14-03-2017 09:38 AM

Try new York where all the trucks, bin men, construction vehicles etc. come out at 3am.

6am for a major metropolitan city is completely normal.

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Nick2


Posts: 6
Joined: Mar 2017
Post: #6
14-03-2017 01:14 PM

So that's why they call New York the city that never sleeps.

If I accept the necessity of it - I'm not sure of the necessity of the decibel level of the truck reversing alarm. In reality it is that that wakes me up. I'm sure it could go down a notch and still warn those within a mere one mile radius.

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #7
14-03-2017 01:23 PM

It woke us when we first moved her but we soon got used to it. Sometimes though it does cause a massive panic when we have forgotten to put the bins out. A fat bloke in a dressing gown at 7am is not a glorious sight. Luckily I know them quite well and when we have forgotten to put the bins out they fetch them saving much embarrassment all round.

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Bcm


Posts: 187
Joined: May 2010
Post: #8
15-03-2017 07:27 AM

The bin men in SE23 are brilliant. I never realised just how brilliant until we moved to Elmbridge who outsource their waste collection services to a vile company called veolia, who go out of their way to be unhelpful. On one occasion when we first moved I was told that if the bins were not out when the bin men were adjacent , they couldn't take the rubbish, even if I took the bin to their vehicle parked 30m away myself and hooked it onto the truck myself. I had to actually stand in front of their truck refusing to move to get them to take it and was warned they "would not be so kind next time". In the time wasted with me they could have completed our entire road twice. The Elmbridge website says that any extra card placed next to the bin and tied together with string will be collected. Tried this after Christmas and none of it was. The final straw was when they refused to empty my recycling because the bins were on the drive, adjacent to the pavement rather than on the pavement itself. I did this consciously so that my elderly neighbours did not need to walk into the road around my bins. The council website again says bins need to be on the boundary, not the pavement. I had to battle with the council for 10 days to get our now reeking rubbish collected. The bin men are rude and combative and you only get your rubbish and recycling collected on alternate weeks which is a nightmare for a large family. I'd rather torch a £20 note than give it to these guys as a christmas tip. SE23 bin men I miss thee all dearly.

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BT


Posts: 163
Joined: Jul 2003
Post: #9
15-03-2017 08:26 AM

"

Quote:
...a vile company called veolia, who go out of their way to be unhelpful.

"

Don't tar all bin men with the same brush. Veolia collect all our rubbish here in Broadland(Norfolk) and the guys are as good as gold. They turn up at about the same time (7am in my road) every week, put the bins back in approximately the place they collect them from, and don't leave a mess. The Food waste collection is a bit later around 11 am.

They guys are generally cheerful and usually say good morning if I'm at the gate, but then people in Norfolk do talk to each other. I lived in Forest Hill for nearly 40 years and knew very few of my neighbours. Most would avoid talking particularly the younger ones.

This post was last modified: 15-03-2017 08:28 AM by BT.

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Bcm


Posts: 187
Joined: May 2010
Post: #10
15-03-2017 08:36 AM

Fair point BT, they may just be vile in KT10...

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