Denham Garden Village residents call out Council

The residents of Denham Garden Village felt forced to take collective action and launch a public petition after bins were not emptied on time. 

To their shock, the bins serving around 400 residents at the 327 apartment complex in Denham were left unemptied for “well beyond a week”, the petition said. 

Because of this, “flies and ants have made their homes there.” 

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“The heatwave has exacerbated the problem,” said the petition, which was sent to Buckinghamshire Council on July 21. 

They said: “Unfortunately, the collection of refuse has been causing us anxiety for many years and recent events have prompted us to make a collective appeal to you for urgent attention to this problem." 

While unemptied bins posed a “strong” health and safety issue, residents thought it was “unreasonable” to demand them to sort out different types of refused precisely because “your bins are designed for younger and stronger people.” 

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The residents wanted to speak to a Council official, and officers have now agreed to meet with resident representatives. 

Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: “We have been working with the management facilities team to find practical solutions to the issues raised. 

“As such we have replaced all the large wheeled bins in residential areas with smaller, more accessible bins. Bin labels have also been supplied, for fitting, so residents will be able to clearly see what goes in which bin.

 “The entire site has now placed on the normal fortnightly domestic collection rounds. 

“This will allow for a simpler collection. We will continue to monitor the site to ensure that collections are made on time and on schedule and will stay in contact with the maintenance team to ensure the smooth running of the service.”