CHANGES TO WASTE SERVICES IN BRENT

A recent decision by Brent Council executive will introduce a new charge of £40, forty pounds, per annum to collect garden waste.  This will be an optional charge, which means you the resident will decide if you want to pay or not. Senior Citizens will be eligible for a 20% discount. You can also agree to share a green bin with your neighbour and share the cost. The cost works out at less than 80 pence per week.

Why are we doing this?

Government cuts mean we have to find 53million pounds of savings this year. This means cutting out some services and charging for others. It means difficult choices on where we spend limited resources. We also need to increase recycling to reduce overall waste collection that goes to expensive landfill. (See previous blogs on the need to recycle)

We do not have to collect garden waste as a statutory service for nothing; many other Councils have levied an annual charge for years or do not collect at all.  Not every house in Brent even has a green bin, including many in Fryent.

Weekly Food waste collection.

A new initiative will be the introduction of a new weekly collection of food waste. Every household in Brent, approx. 11000, and 8500 in Fryent will receive a new 23 litre sealable food waste container. A new recycling vehicle will collect food waste and dry recycling, your blue bin waste, ever week which will increase re cycling and save money. How? Any recycled waste is £70 pounds cheaper than anything in a grey bin going to landfill. Your collection day should not change and the new service should start in Spring next year 2015.Your Grey bin will collected every other week as now.

But it’s your choice, you can compost garden waste for free, you can take it to the Civic Amenity site in Abbey Road NW10 for free or pay to keep the green bin.

We hope these changes will make Brent a greener, cleaner borough that cares about future generations and thinks about recycling first.

Fryent Councillors  

FRYENT WEEK OF ACTION 29th SEPTEMBER TO 4th OCTOBER

As part of our Fryent Weeks of Action programme, Brent Council will focus on your local area for a week and address the concerns you have about the local area such as crime, the environment and health.

Brent Council services will be working alongside local residents and partners like the police, fire service and the local community to tackle issues raised by you the residents and try and make a difference locally.

You will also have more opportunities to meet your elected Councillors  and discuss local issues face to face.

During the week events will take place at various locations: Outside Kingsbury Library, Roe Green Park, Morrison’s Car Park , Springfield Mount / Edgware Road, and more to be announced..

So whether it is advice or just the opportunity to “Sound Off” look out for “Fryent week of Action” coming to a place near you soon.

For more information, follow us on Twitter @Brent_Council #weekofaction or @FryentCllrs or emailmyneighbourhood@brent.gov.uk or sign up to our blog.

Fryent Councillors, Ruth, Shama and George

Walkabout in Wakemans Hill

Thanks to all the residents we met over the weekend during our walkabout around Springfield Mount and Wakemans Hill. We were shocked to hear about the road accident to an elderly lady on the Edgware Road. Anti social dumping of rubbish on the streets was high on your list of concerns. It is such a shame that some thoughtless residents continue to do this. We are thinking about installing secret cameras to try and catch people dumping.

We were joined the weekend by Shama Tatler who is a member of Fryent Labour Action team. She is also Chair of Brent North Labour Party. Shama really liked meeting residents and chatting about the area.

Waste Dumping Enforcement

WASTE DUMPING ENFORCEMENT Watch out if you are dumping rubbish illegally in Fryent, or any other parts of Brent. Brent Council has started a new waste enforcement strategy. The contractor is leaving dumped rubbish and alerting the Council enforcement team. Before it is collected the Council will investigate and collect evidence of where it comes from. Apart from being anti social and unsightly, it costs all Council tax payers more as it is additional to the normal collection. If you are caught for a minor offence it will incur a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) which will cost you £80 pounds. For more serious dumping you will receive a caution and prosecution in the courts which may incur a heavy fine. There is also no excuse for dumping waste or fly tipping, if you ring Brent Council streetcare they will arrange to collect bulky waste free. Don't dump rubbish - put it in the correct bin, preferably recycling or phone and get it collected. Fryent Councillors.

MEET OLYMPIC HOCKEY STAR IN KINGSBURY

Harrow Hockey Club is promising a fun packed afternoon at their Open Day on Saturday 1^st Sept.

It’s being held at JFS School in the Mall, Kingsbury between 1 pm and 4 pm

Whether you are getting back into hockey or starting for the first time, there will be something for everyone.

Also come along and meet Team GB Olympic Hockey star Dan Fox.

• For more information visit www.harrowhockey.co.uk

 INSPIRE A GENERATION

St Robert Southwell School Expansion Approved

Brent Council Executive have agreed to the expansion of St Robert Southwell RC Primary School when the results of a statutory consultation exercise were reported on Monday night (20^th August) . The school plan to start work on the building project soon which will provide much needed reception places for Catholic children in the Kingsbury area from Sept 2013.

Some residents expressed concern during the consultation exercise that parking problems will increase. The Schools Headteacher and Chair of Governors have promised local ward Councillors that they take vigorous steps to stop inconsiderate parking by parents.

Plans have already been approved and the building work estimated to cost 1.4 million will be paid for by the Council with a contribution from the school. 

Cllr George Crane

RECYCLING IN BRENT UP 50%

Some more good news on the new recycling system introduced in October this year. Brent Council has hailed a dramatic improvement in recycling in the borough since the start of its new waste and recycling service with recycling rates rising by up to 50 per cent.

Figures released by Brent Council show that for the first month since 3 October this year, when the new waste and recycling service was introduced, the combined recycling rate of all organic and dry waste rose to 45 per cent in October from 31 per cent in September this year. Kerbside dry recycling alone rose by 50 per cent from 838 tonnes in September to 1,260 tonnes in October this year thanks to the switch from green boxes to blue-topped bins.

In addition, just 3,890 tonnes of waste were sent to landfill in October compared with 6,574 tonnes in September - a fall of 41 per cent.


Fryent Councillors Jim and Ruth Moher and George Crane said :
"We would like to applaud and thank all Fryent residents who have contributed to the success of Recycle More in its first month. These are tremendous figures and show that many more residents in Brent have taken to the new recycling service.”

"The less waste we send to landfill means we will have to pay less in carbon tax and we will as a borough have a less negative effect on the environment.”

FRYENT RESIDENTS UP RECYCLING RATES

The new recycling scheme introduced earlier this month by Brent Council’s Labour administration is exceeding all expectations, with a 50% increase in recycling in the first weeks of the new system.

Brent Labour ambitiously promised to bring in plans to more than double the borough’s recycling rate from 28% to 60% in their manifesto leading to the overwhelming Labour victory at the May 2010 Council elections.

Early figures show that blue bin recycling is up from 41 tonnes per day in October last year, to 61 tonnes this year. The figures are bound to improve even further when flats join the new scheme later this year.

Brent Labour has prioritised recycling for environmental reasons, and to save money and protect other council services.

Sending recyclable materials to landfill causes huge environmental damage, contaminating land and contributing to greenhouse emissions.

As well as the environmental damage, government landfill taxes mean the Council will save millions of pounds by increasing recycling.

Cllr James Powney, Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods, said:

“I’d like to thank residents for so enthusiastically embracing the new recycling scheme, and making it such a success so early on.

Labour is the only party in Brent committed to increasing recycling, and I’m very proud that we’ve gone ahead with this improved system which will make us one of the greenest borough’s in the country.”