Poll on waste collection
We have run this poll for some time. The results were rather interesting. There was an almost exactly 50/50 split among respondents on keeping the new system as is or reverting to a weekly collection of landfill.
Interestingly, those in detached and semi-detached houses favoured the existing system by a small head. Those in terraced houses or conversion flats did not. The problems of storage of the bins remains acute in such homes.
A new problem has also arisen in the supply of containers to some homes. Requests for cardboard sacks and recycling bags for flats have met with the response that ‘we’re waiting for supplies.’
Season’s Greetings
Paul, Janet and Nick
wish all residents of Surbiton Hill
and all visitors to this site
a very happy and peaceful Christmas
and health and prosperity in the year ahead.
Roadworks Red Lion Road
Received from RBK Highways
Location Red Lion Road, Surbiton junction with Thornhill Road
Start date Wednesday 23 December 2009 at 4pm
Work Repair visible water leak
Principal Thames Water Utilities
Contractor HS Works
Comments Temporary three way signals will reduce traffic flow to a single lane
Delays expected
It is anticipated that the repair and reinstatement will take three days.
Icy conditions
Residents are rightly concerned that some roads have not been gritted in the current bad weather.
We have taken this up with RBK Highways and their reply and advice is posted below:-
Dear Councillor Johnston,
Icy Conditions
Thank you for your recent e-mail to the Environmental Services department requesting gritting to be carried out in Bond Road and St Matthews Road.
Your request has been passed to our Street Scene department to arrange for this area to be added to our gritting requests.
Due to the adverse weather conditions we currently are experiencing, we have focussed our gritting resources on principle roads, town centres, schools (including walking routes to schools), bus and train stations, bus routes and roads to and outside public amenities such as hospitals and fire stations. The current situation is that gritting lorries are also now concentrating on targeting areas where refuse collections are to take place the following day due to the backlog of collections.
Any requests received from residents for gritting additional routes will be assessed and then prioritised and co-ordinated in conjunction with the priorities above.
We cannot give a time frame unfortunately, but the street scene team and our service partners are working very hard to tackle as many of the reported problem areas as possible.
You may find the following information and links to our web pages of interest –
Details of the Winter Maintenance RBK receives regular weather reports and hazard updates from the Met office, which are used to determine whether routes will be gritted, and which ones. RBK has a detailed winter maintenance plan, which can be viewed on http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/transport_and_streets/winter_service/winter_maintenance_plan.htm. When the prediction is that winter action is necessary, it is only the main routes in the borough which get treated automatically, but responsive treating can be requested and assessed. Details of the treatment routes can be found at http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/transport_and_streets/winter_service/salting_routes.htm
In the case of a snowfall, street cleaners are used to remove snow from footpaths; safety comes first.
There are also several salt bins in the borough, which contain salt for residents to use to clear the pavement outside their property etc. The location of salt bins can be found at
http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/transport_and_streets/winter_service/salt_bins.htm
Christmas and New Year Recycling and Landfill Collections 2009
| Usual Collection Day | Revised Collection Day |
|---|---|
| Friday 25 December 2009 | Monday 28 December 2009 |
| Monday 28 December 2009 | Tuesday 29 December 2009 |
| Tuesday 29 December 2009 | Wednesday 30 December 2009 |
| Wednesday 30 December 2009 | Thursday 31 December 2009 |
| Thursday 31 December 2009 | Saturday 2 January 2010 |
| Friday 1 January 2010 | Monday 4 January 2010 |
| Monday 4 January 2010 | Tuesday 5 January |
| Tuesday 5 January 2010 | Wednesday 6 January 2010 |
| Wednesday 6 January 2010 | Thursday 7 January 2010 |
| Thursday 7 January 2010 | Friday 8 January 2010 |
| Friday 8 January 2010 | Saturday 9 January 2010 |
Christmas Tree Disposal
Christmas trees will be collected for composting from Monday 11 January to Friday 22 January 2010. Residents should put their trees out on the day their landfill waste (wheelie bin or black bag) is to be collected. They can also be taken to the Villiers Road Re-use and Recycling Centre.
Pigs might fly………
Allegedly sent by a friend of one of our correspondents in Liphook, Hants. A way round the recession?
” Dear Secretary of State,
My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency, for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the ‘ not rearing pigs’ business.
In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.
I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I’ll will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there already too many people not rearing these?
As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven’t reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?
My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is – until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.
If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?
Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don’t rear?
I am also considering the ‘not milking cows’ business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current DEFRA advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?
In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits. I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.
Yours faithfully,
Surbiton Forum 