January 10, 2011 4.56 pm This story is over 158 months old

Council claims 90% winter bin collections

Wheely good work: The City Council says it managed to collect rubbish last December on all but one day.

The City of Lincoln Council claims that over 90% of homes in the city had their bins collected, in spite of the heavy snow fall last December.

The local authority says that only on December 1 its waste collection contractor, Cory Environmental, was unable to collect rubbish.

The figures coming from the council say that 95% of Lincoln’s streets were visited by the bin collectors on most of the bad weather days.

“We have heard about rubbish piling up in the streets of other cities in the country, but our teams worked extremely hard in very difficult conditions to make sure this didn’t happen in Lincoln,” said Councillor Yvonne Bodger.

“Only a small number of households went without a collection because of difficult access in the heavy snow, and it’s a real achievement that most bins were collected throughout the bad weather.

“When it wasn’t possible to get access to certain streets, crews caught up with collections as soon as it was safe to do so, sometimes using different vehicles that could be more easily manoeuvred.

“The teams also cleared pathways, including University Bridge and Yarborough Hill, to improve safety for pedestrians,” Bodger said.

Jerry Greaves, Northern Area Operations Manager for Cory Environmental claims December 1 was the first time in 14 years a complete day of collections was missed.

“As well as the treacherous conditions on the roads and footpaths with the snow and ice, the extreme temperatures meant the bin lifting equipment on the vehicles continuously froze up, which slowed the collections down.

“Our main priority was to ensure the safety of our staff and the general public, but also property and residents’ vehicles, while collecting bins across the city.

We had to assess the risks for each street and respond accordingly which, in some cases, resulted in collections being suspended.

“We realise that this was frustrating for those residents affected but thank them for their patience,” Greaves added.

“Driving a 26 tonne vehicle around the narrow streets of Lincoln can be difficult at the best of times, but with the snow and ice it took all the skills of the drivers to prevent any serious incidents.”

Source: City of Lincoln Council | Photo: Ryan Cullen