:-)
wat i've been trying to say since the start, David ;-)
We have no rubbish collection service where we live. Therefore we aren't charged for one.
I would suggest that you write to them and ask either to be dropped from the collection stating your case why, or for appropriate containers to be supplied to you in order for you to use the service.
But the service IS supplied - it is just not exactly where you would like it supplied, but 500m away I think you said - that's the same for lots of people. I don't suppose they pretend they are going to come to your door do they? Mine don't. It is just as tedious for me loading up bins to take them 500m as it is to take them 3km - so I take them 3km and avoid the other problems. The bin people are still taking my rubbish away to the tip or recycling place so I pay.
you get on your local council, Jeanette, simple as that!
Véro took the time to very clearly outline the various rural options (I didn't because I thought they were all pretty obvious but perhaps I assume too much/have forgotten that it can be different) I can't really see where your problem is with a uniform taxe that we all pay for the good of the society we live in, I'm coming to that cake and fruit conclusion...
I didn't mean imaginative as in imaginary, Veronique..I meant it takes imagination to come up with a comprehensive list of so many possibilities...I didn't realise that you had lived all of them..!!!
I have very small idea how much consumers take part in planning public services..maybe there are ways of making it all work better... I have no idea at present...
So, perhaps the best way, Alex,if what you say is true...(that its possibly all part of a planned defence mechanism), maybe I can return like with like. I think the lawyer attached to this forum, Guillaume Barlet...could make mincemeat of them if their case is less than watertight. Perhaps a letter would do it...
There must surely be some kind of consumer protection...against bad govt supplied services? And bad, is in this case...taking money for services...not supplied. With threats. It would be great if everyone who got into self provision of energy, as you suggest..could have a rubbish collection rebate or reduction, too..sounds like a good idea t'me...
"Call me a cynic, but I am a lawyer." Nooooooooooooo, Alex ;-) hahahahahahahahahaha (I agree 100%, btw)
it is the same in the uk you have to pay your council tax as it is used to cover things as rubbish collection, policing, even though you may never see a copper in your street and also your tax goes towards the fire brigade and also road up keep.
if you are on a low income you may be able to get a reduction in your charges.
Ah, but you see, there you have the reason why they can afford to be nice to you - they've already set the dogs on you (huissier) - the pseudo-educational, will-you-be-my-friend, let's work at this together letter is just show that they could show the court that they were trying to be helpful in case you decide to take them to court. Pre-emptive counter-strike so-to-speak. Call me a cynic, but I am a lawyer. I'd quite happily burn all my non-compostable rubbish in my own mini-incinerator if I could have one, and use the heat to generate some form of other useful energy (heat my as yet non-existent swimming pool, or power an outside shower/sauna/hot tub), but I somehow don't think my Mairie would let me get away with that.
I'm glad you found it entertaining Jeanette, but it isn't remotely 'imaginative' it is the truth seen from 15 years of living in the sticks. That said, I grew up half in rural Scotland, half in France, so it all seems fairly normal to me... I have tried options 3, 4, and 5, the last works best for me.
Argh, a trailer - my parents' old car that I've just been given, v kind of them, is already about a zillion metres long & has a HUGE boot as well as a LONG nose so I'm scared stiff of driving it enough without factoring in a trailer! I can cope with a trailer on a tractor, in a field but nothing more complicated than that.
My Trafic was perfect as a bin-van ;-)
Very interested in all replies, thank you for the care taken in thinking about it!
The issue seems to me , from all you say...to need to be addressed on behalf of everyone who feels dissatisfied, with the current system, for different reasons. That's a fine imaginative list, Veronique! Presumably... None of you are suggesting...if any of the services we all pay for, are lousy...its best to forget the whole thing, because we won't get anywhere attempting to change things?
The Scottish friends, alas too far away to be assisted.. sound like they have a pretty bad deal...along with many in Veronique's list...and if everyone is content to leave it all to fester on, unremarked upon...then sure...Pay up, and shut up...is all there is!
The company letter suggests that I Phone to discuss the matter further, so that we can aller ensemble vers un gestion des dechets ....etc... Which successfully creates an illusion of interest in customer feedback, even if that company is unwilling, and unobliged,ultimately... to let go of the dosh...
It's clear that the service is not as good as it could be.from all you say..not just from MY. pov... and if it is an entirely pay up or shut up situation...I wonder why they have not yet said ...exactly that. And instead...give me more time to think on it. (Albeit with the wannabe homewrecker huissier in tow).. I liked all the stuff about reconstituted sludge and plagues of cockroaches (anatomy, physiology, and hygiene) from school days..
if you live a good distance from your collection point, getting a trailer for your car is a better option.
Yes, I'm rather dreading the bin-run - I'm thinking it must be possible to get one of those waterproof anti dog etc enormo-mats. (5) is as you guessed, what I do ;-), no-brainer really after the jolly mornings when I've come down my drive to see the road festooned with squalid bin-pickings courtesy of foxes/badgers/dogs/cats/who knows what else...
Bins obv not a problem for my city-dwelling parents in Germany, no need for them to go anywhere near the car - all the boot had to deal with was huge golf bags & latterly my mother's wheelchair ;-)
re (5) : Hence the usefulness of a van with plastic flooring - the Merc will make that a necessity ! ;-)
your reply is very informative Veronique, a lot of people do not know how rural living works, it is the same all over the world.
It is par for the course, Jeanette - there are only a few possibilities
1. You live in a village and your bin is in front of your house & the bin people empty it. Or you live at squalor corner where everyone is supposed to put the bin bags on the verge the night before & your garden smells lovely for 24 hours, until the bin peoople take them away.
2. You live in a village and take your rubbish to a container sited in the village, the bin people empty it
3. You live in the sticks and put your bin bag out on the road 500m away where the bin lorry passes, you do it the night before because they come at 4.30am, animals think it is Christmas so you spend a bit of time on the way to work litter picking and swearing.
4. You live in the sticks and put your rubbish in a special big bin on the aforementioned road & the bin people empty it. Occasionally you buy a new bin because it gets stolen & then you give up and make a container out of painted pallets & then unknown people fill it with their rubbish.
5. You live in the sticks and take your rubbish to the container in the village 3km away, just remember a good packet of wipes for possible bin-juice in the boot.
6. You don't produce any rubbish & if you did you would deal with it yourself.
Whichever you choose, you pay. The service is there and everyone has to pay for it, if you choose not to use it, that's your problem.
;-)
Remind me to tell some people I know back in Scotland that they shouldn't be paying their council rates for rubbish removal just because they have to take their own rubbish to the bins located at the roadside a half-mile away - I'm sure that would put a smile on their faces.