RIDDLESDOWN
RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS
GRASS VERGES
Parking on grass verges is now, unfortunately, quite common and we do urge residents and others to refrain from doing so. It makes an unsightly mess and does the area no favours.
The practice is illegal and can result in a parking ticket or removal of an offending vehicle if found by the council. Income from this is a good source of income for them and they will respond to reports on 020 8726 6200.
Details can be found at the
following link: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportstreets/motorvehroadspkg/parking/parkingpcn/onstreetparking?a=5441
(left click on mouse and hold down to highlight all of this link and then
right click on mouse and copy and paste this into your internet address
bar).
Apart from normal parking violations eg. on yellow lines, the council will
also act against anyone parking in a way to block driveways and on pavements
unless the signage says otherwise.
PURLEY OAKS RECYCLING CENTRE
The following was taken from the Council's website
This operates operate seven days a week, handling only material
that can be recycled in some
way.
The site, located at Brighton Road, South Croydon, is the first place
in the borough where plastic bottles can be recycled.
The initiative to create the borough's premier recycling centre was taken by the council to improve recycling rates and reduce reliance
on increasingly expensive and environmentally unacceptable landfill
sites.
Below you will find a list of your most frequently asked questions:
Q: Why has Purley Oaks stopped taking rubbish for
disposal?
A: Too many people were dropping off too much waste at Purley Oaks
just because it was
convenient.
Q: Why can’t all the waste continue to be handled in this way?
A: Such waste has to be carried off to be buried in a hole in
the countryside, often close to where people live. To encourage people to
think more carefully about the waste they produce and discard, it is best
to minimise the volume of waste that is produced by recycling or re-using
anything we no longer want. Only when these approaches have been exhausted
should we turn to landfill - as a
last resort.
Q: Why do we have to reduce sending waste to landfill sites?
A: The European Union wants the UK to reduce the amount of waste going
to landfill. It is demanding that the landfill of waste in the UK be reduced
to 75% by 2010, to 50% by 2013 and to 35% by 2020.
Local councils are in the front line of helping to meet these
targets. Failure could mean the UK being fined £1 million per day of
non compliance.
Q: How much waste does Croydon currently recycle?
A: In 2004 - 2005 Croydon recycled just 11.2% of household waste. This was
made up as follows: - 17,658 tonnes of waste recycled (of this, 1,561 tonnes
was green garden waste.) - Croydon collected 157,666 tonnes of household
waste.
Q: What materials can I take to the centre for recycling?
A:
Aluminium foil
Books
Bric-a-brac
Bricks, rubble, concrete and soil
Car batteries
Car oil
Card
Cardboard
Fluorescent tubes
Green garden waste
Household batteries
Household electrical appliances including fridges
and freezers (good enough quality to be
refurbished)
Household plastics
Ink jet cartridges
Mixed glass
Mobile phones
Mobile phone batteries
Paper
Scrap metal
Shoes
Spectacles
Food and drinks cans
Clothes
Wood (natural timber only)
Plastics Recycling
All household plastics are accepted, e.g. bottles, containers etc. We will
not accept non household plastics e.g. plastic car parts.
Rubbish
(material that cannot be recycled at Purley Oaks Re-use & Recycling Centre)
Anything that does not appear above should be taken for disposal to either
Fishers Farm Civic Amenity Site, North Downs Road, New Addington,
or Factory Lane Civic Amenity Site, Factory Lane. Please click on the
links in the ‘See also’ for further information including opening
times.
We will continue to operate a bulky waste removal service, please click on
the link in the ‘See also’ panel for more details.
Q: What are the opening hours?
A: The Purley Oaks Re-use & Recycling Centre opens
from 8am to 3.30pm seven days per week including Bank Holidays. The
centre is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Taken from April 2004
Recorder)
Rubbish
Disposal
Did you know that the Council will make a special collection of bulky items
of unwanted furniture? If you phone Taberner House (020 8686 4433) you can
have up to seven bulky items collected at one time at no charge. You need to
phone at least two weeks ahead of when you want the items collected, and
they will need to be put out on the pavement, or within sight of the road,
the night before the collection date as they start at 4.30am. Should you
have extra items and you have ‘used up’ your free allowance, you can arrange
for up to seven further items to be collected for £20, and eight to fifteen
items for £30. Glass items are not accepted.
Old fridges can be collected for a £10 fee; again they need to be put
near the pavement the night before collection. Up to three fridges/freezers
can be included for the£10.
Green Card System
Have you heard about this? It saves you phoning Taberner House about blocked
drains, pot holes in the road, faulty street lights or vegetation
overhanging the pavements. Pre-paid green cards can be obtained from your
local library or the One Stop desk at Taberner House. You just need to tick
the box relating to the problem, fill in the full details and your name and
address, and post it to Taberner House at no cost to you. Hopefully the
problem will be dealt with within a few weeks.
(Taken fron October 2003 Recorder)
As blocked gullies and drains featured strongly in April’s Recorder, I thought that it would be interesting to find out the Council’s policy on them under the new regime. The new contractors have one vehicle clearing drains and gullies at the moment and hope to increase that by a further three within the next four weeks. Old Coulsdon is being targeted but the vehicles are working their way through from the south of the borough and I am assured that within a couple of months there should be a great improvement in the Riddlesdown area. Several drains which are blocked seem to be permanently under parked cars – please, if you are asked to move your car so that the drain can be unblocked, do so. If the Council have to use lifting vehicles to remove a vehicle from over a drain, it costs them (us) over £300 per hour.
I have now seen two residents who regularly pick up litter as they walk round Riddlesdown. Many thanks to them. Please can everyone, especially commuters in the station area, take home their rubbish with them. We don’t seem to be able to get railway embankments cleared and the rubbish and fly-tipping is increasing weekly.
Should you feel that any of the trees outside your house, which are the responsibility of the Council, are in need of a prune, it is now necessary to contact The Trees and Woodlands Officer, Cultural Services Department, Crosfield House, Mint Walk, Croydon CR9 1BS. It will be several months before they respond because of a full works programme, but the trees do not seem to be pruned unless a resident asks for it to be done.
Diana
Chitty
During the summer months there has been an increasing occurrence of youths riding motorised scooters in the area on both the roads and pavements. The scooters, also known as Go-Peds or Buzzboards, pose a serious danger not only to the rider but also to other road users and pedestrians. They are also a noise pollutant and are causing annoyance to local residents.
The scooters comprise a board, two wheels, a handle for steering, in some cases a seat and a fitted petrol or electric engine, capable of speeds up to 30 mph. As a result of the design and specification many parents and young people are unaware, not only of the dangers but also of the road traffic offences that may be committed.
The legal position in relation to the Go-Peds has been decided by recent Case Law, in which the Go-Ped was held to be a motor vehicle and, as such, subject to certain requirements under the Road Traffic Act. Riders, who should be at least 16, must hold a valid driving licence meeting the age requirements for that licence, and display ‘L’ plates if required, wear a crash helmet, hold a certificate of insurance covering at least third party risks and comply with all regulations regarding lights, tyres, horns and MOT. The reason for the Case Law guidelines is not to prevent young riders from having fun but to raise awareness in relation to their personal safety and that of other members of the public. Anyone over 16 riding a machine must have all the appropriate paperwork and technical requirements.
The police are advising that parents should be aware of the legal consequences for their children before purchasing these machines, regardless of what the retailer may have said. The scooters may only be ridden on private land with the landowner’s consent. Police throughout the country have been stopping youths on both roads and pavements and usually just warning the riders of the legal requirements. In some instances, however, offenders have been taken to court and the scooters have been confiscated.
People found riding a scooter without any valid insurance could receive a six point penalty along with a fine of £600. Riders who have not yet qualified for a full driving licence will have these penalty points endorsed upon one attained later in life. The police are warning parents to think of the consequences before they allow their children to use the motorised scooters in public areas. The police in the RRA area are aware of these machines and will stop anyone seen riding one.
Phil Thomas
We reported in July that Riddlesdown School appeared to be taking an active interest in the problem of litter on and around the Common. The following was included in their Information Sheet for 27th June:
Update 2nd August 2003: As of this morning, there does not appear to be much improvement in the Dunmail Drive area outside the school gates. It is possible that the school cleared it up and it has got worse again in the intervening time. At the least the school must recognise that it is an ongoing job and that actions speak louder than words. Has anyone observed 'supervised groups of pupils out litter picking'?
Letter taken from the Website Message Board 24.9.03:
I am watching with interest the progress of the Riddlesdown school
litter clear up. My other half tells me that he has seen 1 group of
children clearing up. However, I walked through the alleyway at the end
of Grisedale Gardens to the School to visit the other evening and was
appalled to see the state. I would have to say, not only the sweet
wrappers, cans and crisp packets, but the amount of Dogs Mess "dumped"
along the path. It was an absolute hazard. I certainly wouldn't want to
be walking amongst it, picking up rubbish ( doesn't excuse the dropping
in the 1st place !) I managed to avoid the "piles" on the way through,
but inevitably despite the fact that the area is well lit, I managed to
get some on my shoes and into the house on the way back. We cannot as
residents expect other people to respect our areas, if we do not do so
ourselves. It is the same on parts of the common. I accept that Dogs
have to be walked, but in the days of plentiful carrier bags and "pooper
scoopers" can it not be taken away with them?
I think more pressure must be put on the school - to encourage children not to drop litter, the council - to provide more bins and the Residents to have a little more consideration when walking their pets - Team Effort !!!
Tricia
Update 3 November 2003
I had a look up by the school gates a week or so ago and there
seemed to be little change to the area outside the school gates and
beyond. Litter fluttered in the bushes and paved stretches of Dunmail
Drive rather as normal. The tall sign at the gates gazed grandly into
the distance, proclaiming the schools presence and proudly setting out
the Headmaster's impressive academic qualifications, but to me, the
latter only highlighted the contrast with the rather squalid state of
affairs at ground level.
Nick Bygrave