Councillor calls for pedestrians to be allowed on Darwen recycling site

1:30pm Monday 30th April 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Dan Clough, Reporter

Pedestrians are not allowed in Darwen's recycling centre Pedestrians are not allowed in Darwen's recycling centre

A DARWEN councillor has called on refuse bosses to allow people to walk into a recycling centre, after a resident on foot was refused entry.

Mick Bourne wanted to dispose of an electric kettle and toaster he no longer had use for. But after walking the half-a-mile from his home to the centre in Spring Vale Road, he was stopped by the attendant.

He said: “The man told me I couldn’t come in as I was a pedestrian. He said it was about health and safety because there had been accidents.

“I asked, if I waited outside and called a taxi which took me 20 yards inside, then drove me back out, was that okay, and he said yes as then I wouldn’t be a pedestrian. I cannot comprehend it.”

A safety notice states that residents within 500 metres of the tip are allowed to walk in.

Coun David Foster said: “They want to encourage people to recycle so they should let people walk in. I understand there may be accidents, but there are lots of accidents on roads and we don’t stop people using them.

“And why is it safer for people who live within 500 metres?” Tony Watson, head of environmental services at the borough council, said: “The site is designed for cars. There are limited pedestrian route markings and for this reason the entrance to the site is designated as restricted pedestrian access.

“However, if you live within the locality of the site, and are disposing of household waste only, the council’s contractors will allow you to walk on to the site, at your own risk.

“But they ask that you wear high-visibility clothing, be careful of traffic entering and exiting, and do not attempt to carry large items into the site.”

Comments(20)

happycyclist says...
1:36pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Brain-dead jobsworths who don't understand the concept of recycling, sustainable development or the environment.
Sadly, even though this should be unbelievable, it isn't.

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Your ferret stinks says...
1:46pm Mon 30 Apr 12

It really is no supprise that people fly tip when this is what you have to deal with when behaving properly and trying to do the right thing.
I'm just glad it wasn't me as i feel i would be in alot of trouble now because i would have lauched the kettle and toaster right accoss the coucil yard!

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Mzwhippet says...
2:16pm Mon 30 Apr 12

I have worked on such a site for 8 years and would like to point out that customers need to have a think about who they are complaining about. We get a lot of abuse off the general public through no fault of our own. We have strict rules and guidelines to follow and not doing so can result in disciplinaries and job losses. We follow rules from our management, whom have struck guidelines to follow from the council, and it is them and higher above them that enforce what you may see as silly petty rules. So before u think of 'throwing your rubbish across the yard' consider that.

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did you smash it? says...
2:44pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Nobody is questioning your role there Mzwhippet, just the stupid jobsworth rules that you have to abide by from the local council or your management.

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happycyclist says...
3:02pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Well I'm questioning your role, Mzwhippet.

Someone with a brain would have said to Mick Bourne, "Give us your kettle and your toaster and I'll chuck it in the skip", not "You'll have to get a taxi"

If pedestrians bringing things in are a problem, make some provision, even if it's only a wheelie-bin at the entrance. People can only carry so much if they're travelling on foot.

I'd have chucked them across the yard, too.

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happycyclist says...
3:03pm Mon 30 Apr 12

What about cyclists?

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New World Order. says...
3:05pm Mon 30 Apr 12

There is lots of back alleys in Darwen that promote fly tipping just by location alone. No poxy rules telling you what goes in what bag just a **** on his bike shouting allsorts of rubbish. He always looks like he's a happycyclist though.

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happycyclist says...
3:20pm Mon 30 Apr 12

New World Order. wrote:
There is lots of back alleys in Darwen that promote fly tipping just by location alone. No poxy rules telling you what goes in what bag just a **** on his bike shouting allsorts of rubbish. He always looks like he's a happycyclist though.
Haha. Wave if you see me.

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happycyclist says...
3:22pm Mon 30 Apr 12

New World Order. wrote:
There is lots of back alleys in Darwen that promote fly tipping just by location alone. No poxy rules telling you what goes in what bag just a **** on his bike shouting allsorts of rubbish. He always looks like he's a happycyclist though.
Oh, and it's "...there ARE lots of back alleys..." ;)

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A Darener says...
3:41pm Mon 30 Apr 12

happycyclist wrote:
Well I'm questioning your role, Mzwhippet.

Someone with a brain would have said to Mick Bourne, "Give us your kettle and your toaster and I'll chuck it in the skip", not "You'll have to get a taxi"

If pedestrians bringing things in are a problem, make some provision, even if it's only a wheelie-bin at the entrance. People can only carry so much if they're travelling on foot.

I'd have chucked them across the yard, too.
sorry but your suggestion is far too simple a solution for the brain dead at the town hall.

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CapitaBackHander says...
3:58pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Bizarre, they forget why they introduce these rules. The reason pedestrians won't be allowed in (and I have parked outside and gone in many times when Q) is so that white van man or Gary with his trailer full of gardening waste can not park outside and avoid private charges.

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fairplay123 says...
4:40pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Just plain ridiculous. Agree with the previous poster that these people are "jobs worths" of the highest order who penalise ordinary law abiding citizens, trying to dispose of their rubbish in the correct manner. Every Monday morning there is a panic to make sure that the wheelie bin lid is correctly closed and doesn't protrude more than a centimetre, or it won't get emptied. Then when you do the right thing and go to the tip you are treated as a nuisance when you try to decipher where to put each individual piece of rubbish. As a previous poster said - no wonder people resort to fly tipping!

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Keep Darwen Green says...
4:45pm Mon 30 Apr 12

This is what happens, you end up with some bloke routing in yer back alley.
So pedestrians aren't allowed to recycle. Can they not have like a hatch in the fence where you can pass stuff through? Your not exactly going to walk it with a mini skip in yer pocket are you?

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frank says...
5:10pm Mon 30 Apr 12

this happened to me a few years ago in Great harwood.
i carried some stuff a mile across town only to be told that i couldn't go in. I argued that people in cars were on foot when they got out of their cars, but obviously they didn't see it that way. eventually they took the items. good job because they weren't going home with me.
i can understand them not wanting people wandering around but you have to report to someone anyway.
totally stupid. not everyone has a car.

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Michael@ClitheroeSince58 says...
5:29pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Mzwhippet wrote:
I have worked on such a site for 8 years and would like to point out that customers need to have a think about who they are complaining about. We get a lot of abuse off the general public through no fault of our own. We have strict rules and guidelines to follow and not doing so can result in disciplinaries and job losses. We follow rules from our management, whom have struck guidelines to follow from the council, and it is them and higher above them that enforce what you may see as silly petty rules. So before u think of 'throwing your rubbish across the yard' consider that.
I'm surprised you have time to get your rule book out, most of you are to busy filling your cars with goodies.

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Your ferret stinks says...
6:32pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Mzwhippet wrote:
I have worked on such a site for 8 years and would like to point out that customers need to have a think about who they are complaining about. We get a lot of abuse off the general public through no fault of our own. We have strict rules and guidelines to follow and not doing so can result in disciplinaries and job losses. We follow rules from our management, whom have struck guidelines to follow from the council, and it is them and higher above them that enforce what you may see as silly petty rules. So before u think of 'throwing your rubbish across the yard' consider that.
Yes, i have briefly considered it and guess what ..... it's still going flying accross the yard.
So instead of trying to defend insane ideas do something useful and stop filling your cars up with gear for Frank Barnes or ebay and go pick up my sh1t.

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New World Order. says...
6:46pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Councillor calls for pedestrians to be allowed on Darwen recycling site.

I suppose if the cemetary is full you have got to throw them somewhere.

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goz says...
10:10pm Mon 30 Apr 12

Been to Darwen many times and to be honest always found the staff there more than helpful.
Unfortunately these people are working under surveillance cameras and the 'real jobsworths' and over promoted 'gobsh1tes' are probably sat in their offices watching them in earnest waiting for the slightest mistake. Am sure there are many times they feel like recycling the rule book but the lunatics now run the asylum in most walks of life !!!

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Good call says...
10:25pm Mon 30 Apr 12

How about people stuff these "guidelines" and "rules" and apply common sense.When people leave unwanted goods and waste in their back alleys or where ever,they get prosecuted but then if people go to recycle it, they're told no because of health and safety.

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johnjackson123 says...
4:32pm Thu 3 May 12

As a van driver I feel unfairly victimised when trying to dispose of waste that people with cars can easily get rid of. Because I drive a van I have to apply for a permit that allows me 12 visits to the recycling centre in a 12 month period. Last year I went once, this year I have been doing some DIY and have been three times so far, the first 2 times passed without incident and the guy that works there was as pleasant as anything and immediately on entering the site I took him the permit to stamp, on the second occasion a young girl stamped my permit again with no problems. But on my third visit there was a guy working there that I had not seen before and immediately he started giving me grief saying it was commercial waste. I was absolutely fuming, I have a permit that allows me to dispose of my waste yet this imbecile decides to put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day, the ironic thing is that he was wearing an hi viz vest with the words "here to help" printed on it.
I consider myself to have a lot of patience but I could easily see why people would loose their temper with some (not all) of the people that work in these places.

I was that mad when I left the recycling centre that I looked up the Blackburn.gov website to telephone and complain but after waiting in a queue for 10 minutes I gave up.

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