Discussion
Senex said:
Bloody council tips.
Pre-Covid, yes there were large queues on weekends in the summer but the council staff love this new booking system because none of them now have to manage the queues, they can now stand next to the skips, smoking roll-ups and police what goes in what skip.
We are now limited to one visit per week, so if you have a big garden/DIY project you have to store all the waste in your garden and trickle feed it to the tip by weekly visits, by which time it will be soaking wet.
Also, picture this scenario: You wake up and it's a dry sunny day and you think, right let's get that big DIY/Garden job done, previously you went to the tip at the end of the day with the rubbish (even if there was a queue). You could go the next day too if needed, and the next (still not going to be 52 trips per year though). Now you go on-line and discover there are no slots available at the tip for ten days, brilliant.
Also, they are closed Wednesdays, no doubt so the council workers can catch up on their inclusion and equality courses.
When the booking system first started there was a council worker stationed at a barrier checking everyone's email booking. They soon found that task too tedious so they added a QR code to your email and installed a QR scanner next to the barrier. Council worker can now retreat to a little hut and drink tea and read the Daily Star and wait for the occasional driver who is too thick to figure out how to scan their QR code.
Also, what is all this checking post codes nonsense anyway? Was it really a problem where people were sneaking into tips from outside their post code area? Why would anyone do that? And the numbers were surely small. Say ten people a week were sneaking in from another area, using that logic then is it not likely that this was reciprocated by ten people sneaking from your area to another area? Balancing out this whole post code pirates nonsense?
This is in The People's Republic of Swindon
For me, this whole council tip drama has been one of the worst hangovers from Covid.
I think it’s a bloody brilliant idea since ours started using a booking system.Pre-Covid, yes there were large queues on weekends in the summer but the council staff love this new booking system because none of them now have to manage the queues, they can now stand next to the skips, smoking roll-ups and police what goes in what skip.
We are now limited to one visit per week, so if you have a big garden/DIY project you have to store all the waste in your garden and trickle feed it to the tip by weekly visits, by which time it will be soaking wet.
Also, picture this scenario: You wake up and it's a dry sunny day and you think, right let's get that big DIY/Garden job done, previously you went to the tip at the end of the day with the rubbish (even if there was a queue). You could go the next day too if needed, and the next (still not going to be 52 trips per year though). Now you go on-line and discover there are no slots available at the tip for ten days, brilliant.
Also, they are closed Wednesdays, no doubt so the council workers can catch up on their inclusion and equality courses.
When the booking system first started there was a council worker stationed at a barrier checking everyone's email booking. They soon found that task too tedious so they added a QR code to your email and installed a QR scanner next to the barrier. Council worker can now retreat to a little hut and drink tea and read the Daily Star and wait for the occasional driver who is too thick to figure out how to scan their QR code.
Also, what is all this checking post codes nonsense anyway? Was it really a problem where people were sneaking into tips from outside their post code area? Why would anyone do that? And the numbers were surely small. Say ten people a week were sneaking in from another area, using that logic then is it not likely that this was reciprocated by ten people sneaking from your area to another area? Balancing out this whole post code pirates nonsense?
This is in The People's Republic of Swindon
For me, this whole council tip drama has been one of the worst hangovers from Covid.
As said, if you really have that much rubbish, hire a skip.
Not difficult really.
East Riding of Gods own County Yorkshire.
No booking. No one in one out.
Guys very helpful. Never queue.
Bins collected weekly.
Bin men take over full bins. Leave treats for our dogs.
They very occasionally check your a resident at the tip as there are literally hundreds of thousands of IMHO illegal immigrants from West Yorkshire(Not a Riding) living in little plastic palaces.
No booking. No one in one out.
Guys very helpful. Never queue.
Bins collected weekly.
Bin men take over full bins. Leave treats for our dogs.
They very occasionally check your a resident at the tip as there are literally hundreds of thousands of IMHO illegal immigrants from West Yorkshire(Not a Riding) living in little plastic palaces.
Pre covid ours was standard tip experience, turn up, queue, ditch your stuff, go. Then it was even number plates one day odds the other, which was the same but no queuing, winner. Then they added a webcam to check the queues before you set off - brilliant!
Inspired by this run off success they've now put in and unnecessary booking system to ruin it, and all but stopped bulky waste collection, despite it being a chargeable service.
Hasn't had a mystery fire to clear it out yet though, so that's good.
Inspired by this run off success they've now put in and unnecessary booking system to ruin it, and all but stopped bulky waste collection, despite it being a chargeable service.
Hasn't had a mystery fire to clear it out yet though, so that's good.
Bookings and limits have been gone at ours for a while now.
More annoying is that refuse collection will only be once every three weeks, with seperate kinds of recycling the other weeks. Because we are 400m up a track from where the bins are at the main road, actually just about easier to go to the dump once a month.
More annoying is that refuse collection will only be once every three weeks, with seperate kinds of recycling the other weeks. Because we are 400m up a track from where the bins are at the main road, actually just about easier to go to the dump once a month.
No booking system where I am, and generally only have a few cars in front to wait - but can, on occasion, be a significant wait.
You need a permit - one per household - the one closest to me checks, but the one slightly further away doesn’t. But a quick “left my permit in the other car” always works, so seems a bit pointless having someone on the gate checking.
You need a permit - one per household - the one closest to me checks, but the one slightly further away doesn’t. But a quick “left my permit in the other car” always works, so seems a bit pointless having someone on the gate checking.
Montmouthsire council is the same, 3 guys all standing around chatting at the bins (there’s at max 10 of them) and you HAVE to book online, turn up with a booking and you’ll be turned away
There’s a separate form for commercial vehicles, not aloud to be over a certain size, and not aloud to be sign written, which meant after Christmas I couldn’t get rid of my Christmas tree because my van is a sign written Electrical contracts company.
fly typing has got worse and the council seem dumbfounded that making is harder to get rid of stuff in their Facilties has lead to a increase in rouge tipping.
There’s a separate form for commercial vehicles, not aloud to be over a certain size, and not aloud to be sign written, which meant after Christmas I couldn’t get rid of my Christmas tree because my van is a sign written Electrical contracts company.
fly typing has got worse and the council seem dumbfounded that making is harder to get rid of stuff in their Facilties has lead to a increase in rouge tipping.
Nickbrapp said:
fly typing has got worse and the council seem dumbfounded that making is harder to get rid of stuff in their Facilties has lead to a increase in rouge tipping.
Exactly. So when the council eventually send a team of workers (Ha!) in a truck out to clear up the fly-tippage, (at council tax payer's expense) the rubbish ends up in exactly the same landfill it would have if they'd let them tip it there in the first place.My local tip is like an 'All you can eat' holiday, in a private car I can go whenever I want and tip as much as I want. I have a book of 12 x passes to be able to take my trailer too, but I've never used then as I take the trailer to a tip across the county border where trailers are allowed and they have much better access. Theirs is all you can eat too.
I'm plucking up the courage to take a bagged up an unwanted car tyre.
I'm plucking up the courage to take a bagged up an unwanted car tyre.
I was sceptical but I'm a fan now. The problem was mostly old people taking one or two bags of rubbish, dithering about as old people do, so taking ages and causing huge queues. Now queues are acceptable, only really occur at peak times in the summer and users have a full car load. It has definitely improved for me.
Old Merc said:
The one in Reading is very good, massive place. Only available to Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham residents. Book a time slot online, take proof of address. Wave it all to the bloke at the barrier and in you go. No big queue, guys wonder around and help you with heavy stuff, in and out in no time.
I've also found that even at weekends you can book a slot just a few hours ahead. Compared to previously when the weekend queue could be about a quarter mile long , the new booking system does seem to have actually worked in smoothing out demand, rarely have to wait; drive in, dump, drive out.And the staff on the whole seem to actually offer assitance and advice, not just tell you you that can't go in there, mate.
Only fly in the ointment is the charging for rubble and similar, but then I've not had anything like that to dump in years so it hasn't effected me yet. I'll just dump that in the woods somewhere.
Southerner said:
heisthegaffer said:
My local one is just where you rock up when you can. It also has a dump cam.
I thought 'dump cam' might be some sort of slightly niche OnlyFans content! 
Senex said:
Seventy said:
Are you going in a commercial vehicle? i.e van or pickup?
Which council?
Normal car, SwindonWhich council?
deadtom said:
My local council (Kirklees, West Yorkshire) tip is great. You have to register your car (up to two per household, which I dutifully have done but I've never actually been checked) but other than that you can turn up as often as you need to, and it's open Saturday and Sunday. They even take old car tyres.
I realise this is no help to you OP, but I wanted to bring some balance and say that they aren't all bad
Apart from the rubble and soil skip has gone…I realise this is no help to you OP, but I wanted to bring some balance and say that they aren't all bad
Covid-era pre-booking still in full force in the Socialist Utopia of Merton. Show ID with proof of address on way in. Normal cars only, I think vans are banned completely, and you have to ask for special permission if using a car with some of the seats removed.
It's good the old endless queues have gone but it's annoying that you have to plan in advance, you can't just do some clearing out/gardening on a nice day and make an unpremeditated trip to the tip.
I was just thinking back the other day - when I went with my dad to the tip decades ago, if you had something old that someone else might want, even if it was broken but fixable, there was a corner where you could leave it and someone else might take it away to fix and keep for themselves. There's nothing like that at our tip now, everything goes in the bins to be crushed. I suppose Freecycle and giving stuff away through Facebook has replaced that idea.
It's good the old endless queues have gone but it's annoying that you have to plan in advance, you can't just do some clearing out/gardening on a nice day and make an unpremeditated trip to the tip.
I was just thinking back the other day - when I went with my dad to the tip decades ago, if you had something old that someone else might want, even if it was broken but fixable, there was a corner where you could leave it and someone else might take it away to fix and keep for themselves. There's nothing like that at our tip now, everything goes in the bins to be crushed. I suppose Freecycle and giving stuff away through Facebook has replaced that idea.
Edited by Granadier on Monday 20th March 22:12
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