Is it a competition to see who can be the loudest?
AS A busy, hard-working family living in St Sampson’s, we go to bed at around 10pm ready for the following day and all that entails (work, family life, hobbies, etc). However, frequently we are woken at 1am by States employees tasked with collecting our rubbish. Moreover, it seems as if there is a challenge among States employees about who can be the loudest or most disruptive, especially when they are collecting the glass and bottles, which are thrown unceremoniously and without consideration into the rubbish truck, or, on one occasion, all over the estate with residents tasked with clearing up the broken glass the following morning.
I am sure all residents in St Sampson’s, and most probably all other parishes, understand that there will be some noise and disruption, but definitely not to the level that is being experienced recently. However, recently was the worst, as the rubbish on our estate was not collected until 2am with the noise to accompany it. Guernsey citizens all know that traffic congestion is getting worse, but we did not realise the traffic was this awful during early morning.
Thankfully, a solution is at hand – collect parish rubbish at a more convenient time, such as 9pm. When I was younger this is what used to happen, the rubbish was collected after teatime, usually around 7pm. So why has this changed and why is the rubbish being collected at 1am without due consideration to the citizens it is disturbing, who then find it hard to function the next day due to sleep deprivation? Looking forward to reading a reply from the relevant States department about the issues raised in this letter.
NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD
Editor’s footnote: Guernsey Waste operations manager Sarah Robinson responds: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your correspondent. Guernsey Waste does not arrange the household collections but points your correspondent has raised may be equally relevant to other parishes besides St Sampson’s. We are therefore perhaps best placed to address their concerns more generally.
We believe the collection crews across all parishes do a fantastic job, in all weathers, to ensure islanders are provided with a convenient kerbside waste and recycling collection from outside their home. Without these collections we would not be able to manage our waste and recycling as well as we are now and achieve such high recycling rates. However, it is appreciated that this is not a silent task and at times, particularly in the summer months when windows may be open, the noise of collections can on occasion cause some disturbance. We are sorry if that has been the case.
Collection crews should, and generally do, do their best to keep noise to a minimum, albeit while having to operate large, heavy vehicles at night. If anyone has any concerns about noise levels, we would ask them to contact their parish office or constables, who can then raise this with their collection contractor. This sort of feedback is helpful as they can then consider what could be done to alleviate any issues. Where this has been done previously a resolution is often found, whether this be maintenance on collection vehicles, amending collection procedures, or a reminder to the specific crew for the area.
In addition, where glass or other waste may have escaped during collection, the contractors will go back to rectify the issue. Again, please contact the parish office in the first instance. Contact details can be found at www.gov.gg/parishes.
Regarding the timing of the collections, this is decided between the parish and their chosen collection contractor. It is a long-standing arrangement that collections take place at night, primarily to avoid disruption to traffic from slow-moving vehicles during the busier times, and for the safety of the crews, who would otherwise be working on busy roads. It is probably worth noting that collections take place over several hours for all houses to be serviced, so if even if they were to start earlier, some islanders might still have their collection past midnight. We meet with the parishes collectively on a regular basis so would be happy to raise the feedback to them when we next meet.