Time for Rother to get recycling to work

Not a week goes by without an irate taxpayer berating Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard via his Ask The Leader slot on the Rother website about the catalogue of failures which continue to bedevil the council kerbside recycling system.

Not a week goes by without irate readers bringing their waste collection and recycling problems to the Observer.

But has Rother done the equivalent of taking the car back to the showroom?

True, in the early stages the authority claimed cash back under a penalty clause.

Since then, outwardly at least, there has been a deafening silence. If there has been behind-the-scenes action it has not translated into effective results.

Where are the campaigning councillors who should have been leaping to the defence of those they are elected to represent?

Eight months have passed since the introduction of the system and still the bugs have not been ironed out.

This week we reveal the shocking example of a disabled lady who is made a virtual prisoner by uncollected rubbish. Rother has responded. But part of the problem remains.

Week by week the Observer postbag and switchboard has similar tales of woe.

Families who were assured last autumn that they qualified for larger wheelie bins were told these would be delivered in the new year.

They are still waiting.

Many householders have still not received the green bins for compostable garden waste that were '“ for those fortunate to have received them '“ one of the better aspects of a programme which deserved to succeed simply because everyone could see that recycling was both necessary and long overdue.

Meanwhile, country hedgerows bear witness to actions of those who have become frustrated by the stalemate. Fly-tipping is irresponsible and anti-social. But given the problems the public suffered since last June it was inevitable that some would take the coward's course.

Precious little has changed since the early days of this troubled programme.

The public remains (for the most part) committed to the sound principle that as much waste material as possible should be recycled (or composted) to reduce dependency on landfill. But its patience is being sorely tried.

They see taxpayers in neighbouring authorities able to recycle cardboard without the difficulty Rother encounters.

They see wheelie bins replaced where the householder left them '“ not where the contractor chooses.

They see wheelie bins of a size which realistically reflect family needs.

In the absence of tangible progress they sense a supine approach to problems which are all too tangible.

It is time to confront take the dodgy motor back to the salesman.