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Wirral councillor calls for urgent rethink over bin collections





WIRRAL residents are kicking up a stink again over maggots and mice gathering in their wheelie bins.

With warmer weather beginning to emerge, local councillors are once again being approached by householders who are increasingly unhappy about fortnightly bin collections.

There is concern at the growing incidence of smells and flies, while across the country many councils have begun to re-think the fortnightly collection policy.

Seacombe Cllr Adrian Jones told the Globe: “However fastidious people are at cleaning their bins the flies and the maggots still come and are hideous.

“Maybe a play on words might catch the eye of my fellow politicians. I’m fully in favour of the recycling initiative, but now that we have solid experience of fortnightly collections, I think we are going to have to look again at some of the problems.”

The former mayor added: “There are particular problems for people living in densely populated areas. Many of my Seacombe residents live in terraces without frontage and with only small yards behind.

“If they leave the bins in their yards, the smells and the flies are far too close to their kitchen windows, and there’s no escape from either.

“If they leave them on the pavements at the front, that causes a nuisance to everybody else.

“Many people overcome the problem by taking their refuse to the council tip, but not everybody has a car. I think we are going to have to re-think the whole idea of fortnightly collections for food waste.”

As though the annual return of flies and maggots isn’t enough, the councillor has also taken up the cause of several groups of residents with rodent infestations.

He told a recent meeting of the St Paul’s District Residents’ Association: “When the £33 charge for ridding a household of mice was introduced, the consequences perhaps weren’t anticipated.

“What now seems to be happening is that residents are paying the fee and their homes are cleared of the mice. But if the houses around them don’t all get cleared at the same time – and they won’t because not everybody can afford it – a new generation of mice from a few doors away just moves in.

“One gentleman whose mice had been eradicated last year showed me a large collection he’d trapped in a single week.

“I’ve taken this up with our environmental health team and they’ve been most helpful. They are going to assess the extent of the infestations by surveying the areas I’ve identified and they’ll liaise with the housing associations for a united approach wherever it’s appropriate.

“Fortunately, I haven’t yet been told of rats; it seems to be confined to mice at the moment. One of the problems is that people can’t always keep their bin lids closed, as the fortnightly collections mean they have too much to pack in. That allows the mice to hop in and have a wonderful feast.”

If you are having problems with mice, rats, or maggots, or with keeping your wheelie bins fresh, e-mail us at [email protected] or write to Maggots, Wirral Globe, Haymarket Court, Hinson Street, Birkenhead, CH41 5BX.


THE GLOBE

This fella has got off his arse and gone door knocking over a period of weeks talking to rezzies about the bins and the mice. Makes a change

Letter in the Globe, what a good idea!:

IN the summer, some readers of the Wirral Globe write about the problems they experience with maggots in their green bins.

We have avoided this annoyance in the following manner.

Two years ago, we purchased a wormery. The worms like shredded paper for their bedding and then enjoy eating through waste cooked food, tea bags, coffee grains and vegetable waste. In return, they provide us with a few litres of concentrated liquid fertiliser which, when diluted, is ideal for house and garden plants.

They also create some rich compost which is an excellent soil improver.

Thanks to our wormery and compost heap, we very rarely put any waste food in the green bin and the plants in the garden enjoy a nutritious diet.

Alan Vernon, Pensby.

Nice idea, but not every one has a garden.

That is where open fires came in handy, you could burn all that waste, the only thing that was in the bin years ago was ashes. If we get to green we pay the price in other ways.

Re. Wormery
Whats not to like? How do ya set up?

Do you like smog bert?

I remember smog Snooze, that was more down to the coal that was burnt and the industrial pollutants. I know one thing and I've confirmed this with a Doctor friend who also remembers smog, why is it there are more asthma sufferers now as the cleaner the air gets.

I think the higher prevalence of asthma is being put down to our anti-septic, ultra-hygienic lifestyles. That's why I let my kids eat soil

I've always eaten soil and stuff off the floor... and I have never been sick... apart from alcohol related sickness...

No maggots in my bins... had loads of wasps recently though...

I never wash my bin and I've never had maggots or mice, just a bin that smells of rotten stuff.

Must save on the shopping bill. I say eat shit, 20 billion flies can't be wrong.

You will probably find the maggots attack the bins, where the lazy fookers cant be arsed using black bags and tying them up properly... you know the type - the same muppets who you probably see the stereotypical dried-to-the-floor tea bags by the side of thier bin, wherever they keep it.

And then they kick up a stink (haha) about their bins being riddle with maggots etc, and the newspapers as always, sensationalise everything.

Would'nt mind, but were not even having a hot summer lol.

we actually have summer's? lol

Yes, remember 2006?