The end of the chute for recycling in blocks of flats?

Councils have been told to stop experimenting with doorstep recycling collections in estate blocks over fears that they could prove a fire hazard, Local Government Chronicle (June 12) reports.

Fire officers say the collections pose a safety threat because sacks of recyclable materials left in front of doors or on landings could catch fire and block escape routes.

The London borough of Hackney has ended its pilot recycling collections in blocks of flats and will instead install collection points that rely on residents to carry waste to them.

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The doorstep scheme was started to boost recycling but has yielded little.

“Doorstep collection in its present form is unacceptable in properties that rely on single internal staircases, internal corridors or escape in one direction only as part of the means of escape,” Steve Tureck, the assistant commissioner for community safety for the London Fire Brigade, wrote to boroughs.

Waste left on doorsteps can contain up to 100 per cent combustible materials, while recycling containers are potential fire hazards, a report for Hackney and Westminster City Council by Bureau Veritas, a safety consultancy, found.

“Local fires involving such recycled waste, while relatively modest compared to a flat fire, could produce significant heat and smoke within an enclosed stair, corridor, or lobby landing,” the report says.

A Hackney spokeswoman says: “We ran trials because we want people to recycle but have now ended them.”

Early bird's parking bonus

There won't be an opportunity to purchase duty free perfume, but parking charges a la easyJet are to be trialled in a Westminster City Council car park, reports Local Transport Today (June 13).

In a nutshell, it's cheaper the earlier you get there. The cost of parking will be displayed on a screen at the car park entrance. When only a few spaces are filled, people will pay 20p an hour or £2.40 for the whole day. When the car park is almost full, drivers will pay a maximum of £2 per hour - the same as the current maximum hourly rate.

The council says that the introduction of congestion charging has reduced the number of motorists using the council's car parks and it hopes that this will attract 30percent more drivers. If successful, it could be extended to all 14 of the council's off-street car parks.

“We know that many drivers in London are put off by expensive parking charges,” says Danny Chalkley, Westminster's cabinet member for environment and transport. “Now they will be able to park far more cheaply on a first come, first served basis.”

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