A gardener ended up with a pile of leaves and branches several feet tall after Barnet’s council did not send him a green bin sticker for five months.
Lesley Levenson, who lives in Cricklewood, criticized the council’s ‘ridiculous’ claim that her payment of £ 70 for garden waste collection had been canceled and said her two official complaints went unanswered.
The stickers inform the waste collection staff that the bin owner has paid for the collections. Without one, a green bin will not be emptied.
It was only after City Councilor Anne Clarke intervened that Lesley finally received the sticker for her garden bin.
“I just don’t know what’s going on,” Lesley said. “I have a pile of garden waste in my garden. I’m late and I don’t know if I’ll make it up now. They don’t have collections all year round – it ends at the end of fall.
“I shouldn’t be lugging trash to the recycling center when I have paid for a service.
Barnet Council implemented a £ 70 per year fee for yard waste tours in April last year. Lesley said she paid the fee in March this year but, even though the money was withdrawn from her account, she did not receive a sticker.
She said she reported the issue to the council three times and each time was told the sticker would arrive by the end of the week.
“The third time around I was told it would be reported to the manager,” Lesley said. “But nothing happened, and the sticker still hasn’t arrived.”
Lesley even filed two formal complaints but got no response from council. In response to a question on the complaint form asking her what she wanted the council to do, she said she wanted her yard cleaned up.
Five months later, Lesley received an email stating that the original £ 70 payment had been canceled. “It’s ridiculous,” Lesley said. “If he had been canceled, why would I sue him?” ”
After Cllr Clarke took charge of her case, Lesley received the sticker in August – five months after making her request.
But she said the council did not provide an apology or explanation for what had happened.
A spokesperson for the Barnet Council said: “We will reimburse the equivalent of half of the annual fee for this service to the resident. We can also offer an additional one-off collection from the resident’s garden garbage can to dispose of accumulated garden waste.
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-08-25 11:17:50
