My clipboard and I took a morning walk around Monks Hill, accompanied by Croydon Council officers responsible for waste management and housing. Main purpose of our walk-around was to look at the waste and recycling provision and how the system of waste collection works. We managed to visit more than half of the twenty or so blocks in Monks Hill. We will return to look at the others later in the year.
Broadly we found that the blocks had appropriate provision of waste and recycling bins, although there were a few broken lids. However, if a collection was missed, bins quickly got full, and the bin areas rapidly became untidy with recycling bins swiftly becoming contaminated with landfill waste. Some of the bin areas needed a good tidy up.
Every block of blocks has its own unique layout with a wide variation in the type of bins provided. If the crew is unfamiliar with the layout, then especially the recycling and food waste bins can get missed. We reported all the missed collections we could find. Where the bin area or external common areas needed a clean-up, this has also been reported.
Hopefully this will result in cleaner and tidier common areas, but this needs constant attention. If your bin collection is missed, do please report it on the Council website. If this does not yield a result, let your Councillors know.
For the common areas within the blocks, responsibility for keeping it tidy is complicated. The caretaker is responsible for the internal parts of the buildings, and Veolia are responsible for the external areas. If the external areas, including the bin areas become untidy then please report via the LoveCleanStreets App.
