16.08.13
Bins should be hidden away – Pickles
New guidance has been issued for developers to create “covert storage areas” for wheelie bins when building new homes.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has called for multiple bins and recycling boxes to be hidden from view, to improve streets’ aesthetics and to reduce litter and problems with wildlife.
It will apply to new-build properties and encourages developers to leave enough space for bins to be hidden or stored in back gardens. The final decision for planning permission will remain with councils.
Pickles said: “Thanks to ill-thought out town hall policies from the last Government, badly-placed wheelie bins and the proliferation of multiple bins have created a blot on the landscape.
“In streets up and down the country, ugly bin clutter has ruined the street scene and the look of people's homes and gardens. By ensuring that developers create appropriate waste storage areas when designing new homes, we can tackle the ghastly gauntlet of bin blighted streets and driveways.”
A Labour spokesman said: “Rather than giving obvious advice to house builders, Eric Pickles would do better to explain why he spent an eye-watering quarter of a billion pounds on a failed scheme to persuade councils to change their bin collection arrangements that resulted in just one council changing their policy.”
The scheme in question was to stop councils fining households up to £1,000 for putting rubbish out in the wrong bins.
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