Communal bins for Regency residents

Residents in three seafront Regency Squares could soon be asked for their views on changes to their refuse and recycling collections.

Members of Brighton & Hove City Council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee are being asked to give the go ahead for a consultation which could see communal bins introduced for both refuse and recycling.

If agreed, residents in Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, Arundel Terrace, Brunswick Square and Terrace, Palmeria Square and Adelaide Crescent will be asked to comment on locations for communal refuse bins and whether they would favour communal bins for recycling.

Residents in the southern end of Westbourne Road, Beaconsfield Road and Viaduct Road will also be asked to consider communal refuse and recycling collections as an alternative to their current kerbside service.

Communal refuse and recycling collections were introduced in most central parts of Brighton & Hove in 2013. The aim was to tackle problems with seagulls and foxes ripping open black bags and waste being blown around the streets.

In areas with high numbers of flats and a shortage of storage space for wheelie bins, communal bins were a good solution being both convenient for residents and resulting in cleaner streets and more efficient collections.

However, when councillors approved the scheme, they deferred their decision for three main seafront squares, Palmeira, Brunswick and Sussex and some adjoining streets, to allow further consultation. This was due to the numbers of listed buildings, historic communal gardens and concerns over the placing of the bins.

Currently all of the seafront squares and some adjoining streets and terraces still receive a weekly black sack collection with refuse collected from the basements by Cityclean crews.

However, following concerns about the risks and hazards for staff carrying rubbish bags up stairs from the basements, the effect on residents living adjacent to storage areas, and in an effort to streamline city centre refuse collection services Cityclean will be stopping all remaining black bag collections from basements.

Council officers have already met to discuss initial proposals with some of the Residents Associations and ward councillors and will be meeting representatives from the Conservation Advisory Group. The consultation would include proposed bin locations and two possible options:

• Communal refuse and communal recycling are both implemented
• Communal refuse is implemented but kerbside recycling collections remain

The outcome of any consultation would be considered separately for each of the three areas.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee said: “The introduction of communal bins in our city centre has helped to keep pavements cleaner and provide an efficient service.

“The extension of this service would be supported by the council’s new enforcement service that will clamp down on fly-tipping and other issues such as littering.”