Surely composting will encourage rats?

 

Noting your piece about the dreaded green bin ‘tax’, I am concerned about some of the statements made about this by our elected district council representatives.

 

Firstly, there has been mention that it is unfair as people without gardens pay the tax to no benefit.

This may be fact in some places but some have a communal green bin where flowers, and I presume food waste, can be placed. I wonder how this will be dealt with? 

 

Cllr Stephen Ferguson believes there are environmental benefits as well, I wonder if he believes that the cars dropping off green waste from those who choose to return their green bins is an environmental benefit?

 

Cllr Martin Hassall appears to believe the move will create less pollution than a bin lorry collecting nearly full bins on a twice-weekly basis.

 

Has an environmental impact statement been created to prove this, thus giving residents the ‘representative democracy’ that Cllr Ferguson believes in?

 

Another worry about the composting option is the increase in rats, and will this be seen as an “environmental benefit”?

 

If there is no green bin, will food waste now  be accepted in black bins, leading to more greenhouse gas leeching from landfill? Surely not an environmental benefit?

 

All of these, and no doubt other options, need to be considered.

 

Finally, nothing has been said about how the tax will be collected, nor, more importantly, how one can avoid it.

 

Will bins be returned to allow residents to not pay the tax and what will happen to the many bins collected.

 

I have heard in another council area, returned bins were consigned to landfill!

 

If this is true, will the same occur in our area, or will they just be cleaned up and stored for future use in new housing?

 

Someone I know has already had their green bin retrieved because they wrote to the council saying that they do not want their bin when the tax comes in, perhaps over enthusiastic action by a council worker somewhere.

 

After all, that resident has, in fact, paid for their green bin till the end of March next year!

 

John Dunford

King’s Road

St Neots

 

20MPH plan not so great in our street

 

Just a note on the 20mph speed limits that have been sanctioned.


Whilst I understand the safety implications of the plan, the notice given to residents (and here I can only speak for Eynesbury) was non existent.

Add to that the incompetence of the people who organised the signage you have a recipe for chaos.

John Giusso

Luke Street
St Neots

 

Let’s rebel and not pay garden waste tax!

 

I read that Huntingdonshire District Council has now confirmed the waste collection charge will come into force next financial year.
 

Our household currently pay nearly £3k per annum for council tax and one of the main obvious benefits is the collection of waste.

I have a problem with not only the charge, which at the moment, I am loathe to pay, preferring to visit the recycling centre myself.

Another concern is this is undoubtedly the first of many further new charges or at best the staged regular increase in this waste charge.
I understand the council has a deficit and a number cruncher has probably suggested this outcome based on number of households divided by the deficit and hey-ho we have a solution, charge for garden waste disposal.

If enough of us reject this payment and do our own thing then the income from this scheme would be outweighed by the continual cost of collecting from the few households that have no alternative. Let’s rebel against this and insist a fairer income stream is devised.

Paul

St Neots

By Email

 

See what's coming up at Huntingdon venue

 

The performance at The Priory in Huntingdon in June, with the mayor of Huntingdon in attendance, was a great night of entertainment with local acoustic performer Gilly Lee performing a set in the downstairs bar - Davinci’s and then the duo RAW Divas headlining in the main attraction event room upstairs.

The night then culminated in an evening of adhoc performances from singers from various local drama and performance groups.

The Priory is a fantastic venue where people can come to truly celebrate the arts, from a versatile rehearsal space, to an intimate performance space.

The Rajpoot Restaurant and Davinci’s Bar and restaurant are the perfect compliment to provide a full evening of dinner, drinks and live performance by some phenomenal local professional talent.

We have an exciting journey ahead with some exciting performances booked and I am just so grateful to The Priory and to Bill Sinclair for opening their doors and minds to the potential of this space.

Dates for the diary:

Monthly Open Mic Nights have started with the next one on 22/9.

Regular Murder Mysteries start on 25/8 with Murder at the Grosvenor - set in vintage London in 1938.

Drag, burlesque, musical theatre, tribute and live band, original theatre,  Huntingdon Haunting, cabaret and comedy Nights are currently also in the planning.

Honest Knaves will be performing Check Please, from September 14-16.

Raw Theatre Productions will be performing Ben Elton’s Silly Cow, from November 15-18.

Pocket Productions will be performing their adult panto on 13/1.

To book or to find out more about performances at The Priory or Raw Theatre Productions, go to: www.Rawtheatreproductions.com or on social media @rawtheatreproductions or call the office on: 07714492224.

 

Melanie Wilcox

Raw Theatre Productions