Wakey, wakey: Canterbury students could be sent texts reminding them about bin collections
by Jamie Bullen
Students could soon be sent text messages reminding them to
put out their bins as part of plans to stop city streets
overflowing with rubbish.
Canterbury City Council is preparing to roll out the new six-bin
system on April 1 after awarding Serco a £40million contract to
operate the city's waste services.
But concerns have been raised the system will not be understood
by students and residents, leading to streets strewn with
uncollected rubbish.
Chris Wallis, the council's street scene manager, said one idea
being discussed with Serco is to text students reminders about bin
collections.
Others suggestions at a meeting of Canterbury councillors
included a series of information roadshows and meetings with
community groups to spread the message as quickly as possible.
But Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Alex Perkins warned the council
faced an uphill task in educating people about the new system.
He said particular attention should be paid to student homes,
which often see a high turnover in people coming and going in
Canterbury.
Students could be sent
texts to remind them about bin collections
Cllr Perkins said: "We see year after year that we have a
problem with people leaving the city and new people coming in.
"When I was leader we actually had people go out and talk to
people. The council needs to pass on knowledge to students as well
as our own citizens."
Cllr Perkins said he is concerned about some attitudes to
rubbish, recalling a recent visit to Knight Avenue where a resident
had cleared his neighbours' litter.
He added: "It is clear people do care about their neighbourhood
but there are 
some people
who don't understand they are being bad neighbours.
"I thought some of the ideas were very good. What we want is
maximum education and for as many people to know what is going
on."
Cllr Alan Baldock (Lab) said it was important to keep a lid on
litter problems in the city to present a clean image for
visitors.
He added: "Canterbury is a city where we have tourists from all
over the world. Do we really want them walking past piles of
rotting rubbish?"
The city council's chief executive, Colin Carmichael, said the
long-term plan was for Canterbury to achieve a 50% recycling rate.
The current rate is 44%.
21/11/12
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