Despite concerns that the introduction of wheelie bins will destroy the region’s “natural beauty,” council members in the New Forest opted to do so.
The New Forest in Hampshire has until recently opposed the adoption of “obtrusive” plastic trash cans because they fear they will detract from the region’s renowned rural charm.
However, the area’s council has now consented to have the bins wheeled outside of 90% of households in the Forest in a programme anticipated to cost up to £5.6m after being instructed by central government to improve weak recycling levels.
Locals and council members worry that a “invasion” of wheelies will ruin the New Forest’s quaint natural beauty—which was recently named the greatest National Park in Europe—and even endanger individuals who have “steeply sloped roadways.”
According to one council member, some locals would find the containers to be “as popular as a pork pie in a temple” because of their impracticality.
However, a majority of council members voted in favour of the installation of wheelie bins at a New Forest District Council (NFDC) meeting yesterday night.
Despite widespread worries that it would turn the woodland into a “dustbin region,” the council was forced to deal with the bins by new government rules on recycling and food waste.
The containers will take the place of the current system, which collects recycling and regular rubbish in separate plastic bags once a week together with food waste.
Wheelie bins are now absent from Hampshire’s pavements in all save the New Forest.
The district’s performance in recycling was ranked 286th out of 345 UK authorities in 2018–19.
Derek Tipp, a conservative member of the NFDC council, reported that 32 Conservative council members supported the bins, while 10 Liberal Democrats abstained and two Liberal Democrats opposed it.
Cllr. Tipp, 74, claimed he voted in favor “reluctantly.”
I believe we need to introduce them, he remarked.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I believe that a change needs to be made because of the manner in which the government is implementing these new recycling standards.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we must try to adapt to change, thus we really need to try to work with them.
“The major thing people don’t like is the aesthetic; they don’t want to see them littering our sidewalks, and I don’t either, but we’ve got to increase our recycling rates.”
Cllr. Tory The NFDC’s Environment Panel vice chair Sue Bennison, 76, previously spoke out against the dumpsters.
The problem of having wheelie bins in the Forest, according to her, is that many people leave for work early in the morning and don’t return until late in the day.
They’ll leave their trash out and won’t be able to put it back until they get home, so they’ll spend the entire day standing there.
Is that something we truly want to see in the Forest? Wheelie bins should not be left strewn across the Forest, in my opinion.
Personally, I don’t care for them. I know I’m a little traditional, but because I live in the Forest, I wouldn’t want wheelie bins to be present everywhere.
It somewhat gives the Forest the appearance of a trash dump. They appear offensive.
Cllr. Tory 77-year-old Alan Glass was another critic. He claimed that the might possibly be “hazardous.”
They are also uncomfortable and ugly, he added. Plastic wheelie bins in the front garden just don’t work if you have a lot of modern houses with little front gardens like we do here.
We don’t want that down here, I’ve seen wheelie bins in front of people’s front lounge windows when travelling the country.
“Can you picture visiting one of the UK’s most picturesque areas, Beaulieu High Street, and finding wheelie bins everywhere?”
Do you want two or three wheelie bins outside your home if it is a terraced house? I most certainly don’t, however I am aware that many people are very concerned about it.
They would be about as well-liked in a synagogue as a pork pie.