Don’t forget your recycling and landfill waste collections remain unchanged during the weeks with a Bank Holiday.

Your collection crew work on Public Holidays, so please place your containers out for collection on your usual collection day. The only exception to this is the weeks after Christmas and New Year when collections maybe made between one and three days later than usual. Please check this page nearer the time for information about your collections.

Please place your containers out for collection by 6am on your usual collection day

The Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at Villiers Road (“the tip”) will be open from 7am to 4.30pm on all public holidays. Public holidays, particularly in the spring, are always busy times so please take care to separate items for recycling before arriving at the site so that you can unload your vehicle as quickly as possible. Before you leave, you can check the length of the queue to the site by viewing the tip cam:

Janet stepped down at the 2010 election after serving as ward councillor, helping countless constituents and contributing considerable expertise in discussions on planning matters. She was particularly noted for ensuring that all new housing developments contained adequate and well constructed space for recycling facilities and amenity space for residents. In her early years she served as Chair of the Surbiton Neighbourhood Committee and the fact that it was nominally all Tory at the time did not ensure an easy ride for her. She was also Deputy Mayor of the Borough in 2004-5 and fulfilled very many engagements on behalf of the Borough with a nice balance of good humour and dignity.

We, her former colleagues and devoted friends, wish her well.

Your collection crew work on Public Holidays, so please place your containers out for collection on your usual collection day.  The only exception to this is the weeks after Christmas and New Year, when collections may be made between one and three days later than usual. This means you should put ut your bins etc. on the usual day this week..

Interestingly, those in detached and semi-detached houses favoured the existing system by a small head. Those in terraced houses or conversion flats did not. The problems of storage of the bins remains acute in such homes.

A new problem has also arisen in the supply of containers to some homes. Requests for cardboard sacks and recycling bags for flats have met with the response that ‘we’re waiting for supplies.’

Christmas trees will be collected for composting from Monday 11 January to Friday 22 January 2010. Residents should put their trees out on the day their landfill waste (wheelie bin or black bag) is to be collected. They can also be taken to the Villiers Road Re-use and Recycling Centre.

We are currently asking the Neighbourhood to make provision for more bins for litter around our wayside gardens. On Wednesday last we secured a wayside bench for the triangle at the Ellerton Road – Ditton Road junction. We have also secured some funding for additional litter bins in strategic places. However, as Janet pointed out, it is very important to ensure that all our litter bins are regularly emptied!

In recent years Paul Johnston has already secured two benches for use by residents. One in Victoria Road near Sainsbury’s after he was approached by a Lovelace Gardens resident and one at the Oakhill – Oakhill Road junction, facing the bird sanctuary.

At Tuesday’s Council meeting the Lib Dem Councillor in charge of Recycling and Landfill, Cllr Bob Steed agreed with Conservatives that the Garden Waste collection service is not up to standard and they need to ‘do something’.

Conservative Cllr Eric Humphrey asked what steps the Council were taking to remedy deficiencies in the Green Waste Collection and this was the unsatisfactory answer given to him.

As well as paying for the Green Waste collection in addition to Council tax, Kingston residents also pay the highest Council tax in London and expect a better service from the current Administration.

The Conservatives fully support measures to increase recycling- a service they themselves introduced many years ago – but it needs to be an efficient service and value for money – which is not what our residents are getting at the moment from the Lib Dems.

We will be undertaking a Borough-wide distribution of a further year’s supply of biodegradable liners during the period 5^th – 18^th September 2009. A distribution company has been procured to deliver a roll of 52 liners to each household.

In Surbiton Hill the distribution will take place beginning on Sunday 13th September and will possibly be completed on that day.

Even if it was possible to just go on dumping it in holes in the ground, we don’t believe many people would find that an acceptable solution in the 21st century. So the question remains ‘what to do with it, where and how?’

To help answer it all four Boroughs are hosting public workshops for interested members of the public to put forward views and discuss plans. The one in Kingston is being held on

• Wednesday, 16 September (7.00pm)
  at the Guildhall, High Street, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1EU