Parked cars stop States Works from picking up estate’s waste
BADLY parked cars in a St Peter Port estate have led to bin lorries being unable to collect rubbish on several occasions in recent months and residents said the only answer is for people to be allowed to park in their front gardens.
The latest incident at Valnord Estate was yesterday morning, when States Works was forced to abandon its regular refuse collection because parked cars made it impossible for the lorry to get into the road.
That led to the department contacting the parish constables, who put up a notice on their Facebook page saying that four cars were responsible: ‘We have advised [States Works] to capture offending vehicles and report to relevant authorities if this happens again.’
Notices were later placed on cars that were found to be in the way.
States Works returned later in the morning to clear the refuse, as well as collect food and glass waste, much to the relief of residents who said that they were fed up with the parking problems, which could include vehicles being left on both sides of the narrow one-way road.
Peter Smith said that the bin lorries were unable to get through the narrow gap between two islands in the road near the entrance to the estate due to vehicles being left on pavements.
The problem was not just with residents, either: ‘Some people park here who don’t live on the estate,’ he said.
‘We’ve asked for in-garden parking.’
A resident who asked not be named said a petition had been put together asking the States to approve parking in the gardens but this was rejected.
‘They didn’t want to know because they said it would cost too much to do the gardens, but we said we’d pay ourselves.’
The homes all have front and back gardens, and Rebecca Smith said she did not think many people would mind losing the front one if it meant more parking and it was not just bin lorries that could be affected: ‘What about if an ambulance wanted to get through?’ she said.
St Peter Port senior constable Zoe Lihou said she could understand the residents’ feelings.
‘If the lorries can’t get through and it’s a regular occurrence, it’s frustrating for people who have better things to do than bring in their rubbish bags in the morning.’
As well as being inconvenient for the residents, the problems led to parish staff having to spend a lot of time dealing with complaints.
‘Office staff who are paid for by the parish are having to field all the calls from disgruntled people about States Works, but on this occasion they’re not at fault.’
It is understood that the States’ policy on gardens is to retain them unless there are exceptional circumstances.
