Green-fingered residents who transformed their streets are demanding town hall bosses remove 16 giant communal bins that they say are blighting their new landscapes.
People living in the Mackenzie Street, Acomb Street Patey Street and Parkin Street area of Longsight are demanding the return of their individual wheelie bins.
Jane Hardy, Jackie Ford and Barbara Walker led a team of residents who spent three years changing the alleyways behind their homes into a garden packed with hanging baskets, floral tubs and a children’s play area. The project was partly- funded by a £5,400 grant from Manchester council and twice won gardening awards from a housing trust.
Their work resulted in Jane and Jackie being nominated by the council for the Women of the Year awards. Jane, 46, of Mackenzie Street, said: "Before they put these massive bins here, it looked lovely – now it is ruined. I am devastated that they have done this. I feel like the council have just stabbed me in the back.
"I love what we have done here in the back alleys and we have put so much time and effort into it." Residents have used the garden for children’s birthday and bonfire night parties.
Jackie, 50, of Parkin Street, said: "We have created these areas so people can sit outside and keep an eye on the children playing, but how can they expect people to sit out there now next to these massive bins?
"It just seems stupid to give us funding to clean up these alleys and now they’re putting all the rubbish back in there."
Barbara, of Patey Street, said: "This is the council wasting money – they are going to destroy this garden by insisting these bins go here." But the council said other residents in the area preferred the new system to wheelie bins.
A spokesman said: "We are aware of the cash grants which have been given in the past to these residents and want to work with them. We are also very proud of the work they have done to improve these alleys. The communal bins have been put in other streets already and have been working well."
The council’s new waste collection system, rolled out around Manchester since May, has been heavily criticised with some collections missed and rubbish overflowing from communal bins.
Executive member for the environment, Nigel Murphy, has apologised for the ‘teething problems’ but vowed things would improve.
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Manchester Council is a nasty pompous self interest organisation that puts political dogma before the needs of it's citizens. The entire waste collection changes are a complete mess.
We now have disabled pensioner residents with insufficient rubbish storage for a two collections left with stinking bin bags breeding flies.
The ludicrously overpaid & overstaffed Northwards Housing wash their hands of it blaming Manchester City Council and "the cuts" another piece of political fiction.
The most basic requirement of any Local Authority is public health and regular appropriate individual rubbish collection is the cornerstone of this but of course the champagne socialists of Manchester have a bigger agenda - looking after their personal interests!
Sounds like the councils right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing! Now't new there then... And I was under the impression the bin lorries can be fitted with multi-loading devices to accommodate many different types of bins on the same run?
Look at the hashtag #mcc on twitter to see that Labour spent far more time trying to put down Lib Dem councillors for national issues than listening to resident's concerns
And this is the result. :(
Stockport Council provide wheelie bins - people moan about them.
Manchester City Council remove them- people moan about it.
What a moaning society we are.!!
IDIOT FAILCHESTER CITY COUNCIL:
"Your bins are not being collected this friday, there is now a two-weekly collection."
So bin doesn't go out.
6am Friday.... Bin lorry goes flying by only emptying three bins in the entire street.