We’ve Given It Time: The Wheelie Bin Project is Failing by Enzo Harrison

December 16, 2025

Waste collection isn’t a pleasant subject. But it’s perhaps one of the many matters that come to mind when you think about local government. It’s something we all take for granted. Or did take for granted, at least.

Southend’s waste collection has been, what I would call, ‘fine’ for the 25 years I’ve lived here. We had weekly sack collections of general and recyclable waste. Collections were predictable, routine and efficient. The worst case scenario? Foxes would rip open sacks that were prematurely put outside for an early morning collection.

You already know this. However, not content with mediocrity, Southend City’s Cabinet decided to attempt to emulate Chelmsford's wheelie bin scheme. Noble, though untransferable and ultimately, a mistake.

Now, Leigh residents. We’re proud of our town, our cafe culture, our seaside. But two things we’ve not got in our quaint paradise are driveways and wide pavements – something our Chelmsfordian neighbours absolutely do.

Many of us, the vast majority of us even, do NOT have room for wheelie bins.

Even if we can cram them into our front garden – removing any visual harmony or taking up space for a bike or potted plants – there’s still not enough room on the pavement when bin day rolls around.

How ironic then that residents living in the beautiful conservation areas, in the more historic parts of Leigh, aren’t allowed double-glazing in their windows as it betrays the aesthetic of their properties. Yet you’ll find six brightly coloured wheelie bins outside many of those houses that fit right in!

The council claims that the change in its waste collection provider is a cost-saving exercise. Even if that were true, (I’m doubtful) is it worth it when the true cost of the wheelie bin project plays out every day on our streets?

Uncollected sacks, packed driveways, inaccessible pavements for people in mobility scooters – all stemming from unpredictable and uncommunicated collection times.

I've had multiple residents reach out to me personally in an attempt to be heard. One gentleman has been going to his 96-year-old grandmother's house multiple times a week to sort her rubbish out as she's been saddled with bins much too difficult for a woman of her age to manoeuvre.

Yes, she's signed up for a sack collection. And no, the council hasn't listened to their concerns.

Why then can’t they also collect sacks during the wheelie bin collection? The wheelie bins are full of sacks anyway. Why are we wasting taxpayers money on separate, ad-hoc sack collections? I don’t get it. And as far as I’m aware, no one else does either.

As with other local gripes in Leigh, from parking to water safety, I will continue to raise this issue publicly and formally. I will push for a review of the current contract, for clear communication of collection times and for a return to sack collections in streets where wheelie bins are wholly impractical.

Waste collection may not be glamorous, but it is fundamental and when it fails, it affects everyone.