Council asks developers to think rubbish
Many new housing estates are not designed to cope with bin lorries. Because they're also not designed with adequate parking arrangements the problem for waste collection vehicles is compounded. Some new properties are so cramped it may even be difficult to find somewhere for the inhabitants to store their wheelie bins and black boxes. So Wiltshire Council is producing a document advising developers how to avoid such problems in future.
The document will be approved by the council at today(Tuesday)'s meeting. Agenda
The 'Supplementary Planning Document' (SPD) is being produced by the council, following a consultation. This was limited to developers on the council's contact list. The council says members of the public could have responded to the consultation but didn't. In practice there was no way for the public to be aware of the consultation anyway, which makes it a WC secret consultation. Of the 500 organisations who were informed only 6 replied. These were housing developers who didn't like the proposals. They objected because they like cramming properties into the available space without leaving room for parked cars or bin lorries because that's how they make their profits. They were also concerned the council would ignore their feedback which, by and large, it has.
The requirements of the document are quite simple and in a sane world would be obvious. Residents should not have to move their bins too far to be collected (30m maximum). There should be space for bin lorries to turn around, and they shouldn't have to reverse up narrow cul-de-sacs. There should be convenient places for people to keep their bins. Streets shold be wide enough (at least 5m). Parking arrangements should be designed intelligently. There should be space for people to put bins out for collection without blocking roads or pavements.
Developers also suggested the council could use little bin lorries which could squeeze through narrow congested streets. WC doesn't like this because it makes collecting the rubbish much more time-consuming and expensive.
It's also pointed out that people are less likely to sort and recycle their waste the more difficult it becomes to do so.
Many new properties also have very small garden areas, but WC suggests that there should be room for people to have home composters, thus reducing the amount of waste to be collected.
There are also problems during construction, with houses being sold and occupied whilst in the middle of a building site with unadopted roads. People naturally expect to have their bins collected straight away, but WC says they'll only do so if it's physically possible to get the refuse vehicles in, and if the developers provide an indemnity certificate to allow them to use the roads before adoption.
So this is a sensible document from WC which, if implemented, would lead to improvements in the design of new estates and would make life much better for the people who move into them. As a side-effect it should reduce the parking problems which blight many developments built in the last couple of decades. We just have to hope WC planners stand up to the house-builders and don't let them get away with sub-standard designs in future.