Elderly Resident 'Denied Help' With Wheelie Bin Collection

Councillor Gary Malcolm slams attitude towards his constituent

Ealing Council has taken action on the case involving a local resident who said that her wheeled bin, with which she requires assistance on collection day, was not collected last week. According to a statement from the Council, the Assisted collection was completed today.

They said: "We’ll follow up with the Contact Centre to ensure they are aware of the correct process." (see full statement below)

The matter was raised by Cllr Gary Malcolm who slammed the Council and Amey, its refuse collection provider, for failing an elderly resident of St Alban's Avenue.

The resident, who is very elderly and sometimes needs help to get out was left last week with her recycling bin uncollected from her home. Cllr Malcolm filed a complaint on her behalf.

According to Cllr Malcolm when wheelie bins were introduced the Council pledged to ensure that the elderly or frail residents would be able to go on a list for assistance. The contractor would take the wheelie bins from near to a person's door or alley and empty it, rather than force the resident to grapple with it themselves when they are not able to.

The Ealing Council website states:" Do you need help moving your bins? If you require extra help moving your wheelie bins on collection day we may be able to provide an assisted collection free of charge."

Cllr Malcolm had described it as "shocking".

The resident told chiswickw4.com that she had signed up for assistance a few years ago when wheelie bins were introduced. As she is 83 and quite frail, she said it was too difficult for her to drag either the general refuse or the recycling bin out over the garden edging to place on the pavement.

Until now, on Mondays, the bin has been collected from outside her door, but the contractors rarely leave the bin back in the correct position, usually dumping it in the middle of her gate, she said. However last week, they failed to collect the recycling bin entirely. It was full and she was unable to do any more recycling all week.

She said there were several others in the street who needed assistance. Many people had also complained about the mess left on the road after the collectors leave.

She added that when she tried to phone Ealing Council, an automated message told her that she was not registered for assistance.

"It's not much to ask really and I don't know why they cannot get it right", she commented.

A council spokesperson said: “We aim to help local people in need of support through our assisted collections service. We apologise if this person has experienced difficulties accessing this service. We have asked ChiswickW4 for this resident’s details so we can investigate fully and ensure that this resident gets the support they need.”

November 12, 2018