Anger over Sunday morning 6am bin collections

ANGER over changes to Edinburgh’s refuse collections was mounting today after shift changes saw bins being picked up as early as 6am on Sunday.

Residents have complained of being woken by the bin lorries since the move to controversial fortnightly collections meant the crack-of-dawn start for crews.

In other areas of the city, householders have complained that their bins are not being lifted until 10pm.

The city council today vowed to investigate the complaints and change pick-up times where required.

Restalrig Drive is one area to see early-morning Sunday collections, with one resident branding it “ridiculous”.

She said: “For most people, Sunday morning is the only lie-in they get all week and now we have bin men clattering about outside.

“I know that the bins need to be collected at some time but the crack of dawn on a Sunday is a bit much.”

Meanwhile, across the city in Ravelston Park, residents have complained of being woken on a Thursday morning at 6.40am.

They say the problem is exacerbated due to the street’s location within the Dean Conservation Area.

Resident Jane Walker, 37, said: “We were woken by the lorry at 6.40am. We can’t have soundproofed PVC windows so I imagine being woken in the early hours will become a regular occurrence.

“On ringing the council to discuss this I was basically told ‘hard cheese’. The buck never seems to stop anywhere with the council, they just do what they like. Residents were never consulted on this change to the route.”

Inverleith Conservative councillor Iain Whyte said: “The council should take a much better customer service approach than this. It is particularly unreasonable that people are being awoken at this hour of the morning

“I’ve been left astonished at the number of difficulties that these changes to the bin routes has caused across the city. I will be asking for a change to this route.”

It is understood a number of other residents have complained about bin men working outside their homes late at night.

The city’s environment leader, Cllr Lesley Hinds, said the council would examine the route at the locations affected and “seek to achieve a later pick-up time”.

She said: “During the first stages of the new bin collection arrangements, there were some changes to the usual shift patterns. This may have resulted in collections temporarily taking place earlier than scheduled.

“In designing the new collection routes we try to avoid organising early morning pick-ups in residential areas, particularly at weekends.

“We are carefully monitoring the new routes and revising them where problems occur.

“If people are experiencing problems with the new collection arrangements I would urge them to contact us on 0131-529 3030 and we will do our best to resolve them.”