I wanted to provide residents with an update following a conversation I had today with Canterbury City Council regarding the increasing number of missed bin collections being reported in the parish.
The advice I received was that if a resident has not personally reported their missed bin collection, the bin will not be collected retrospectively. I queried why, if collection crews are already returning to collect some missed bins in a street, they would not simply collect any other missed bins at the same time. Unfortunately, I was advised that this is not how the system operates.
Residents have only 24 hours from 4:00pm on their scheduled collection day to report a missed collection via the Canterbury City Council website here The missed bins will then individually be collected within 5 days. After this deadline has passed, the missed bin will not be collected and residents must wait until their next scheduled collection, which may be up to two weeks later.
I expressed my concern that this is an unreasonable system, particularly for residents who may be working, away from home, unwell, or otherwise unable to report the missed collection within the required timeframe. No satisfactory answer was provided.
I was also advised that there is no direct contact number available for me to raise these issues with the Waste Management team. As Parish Clerk, I am required to submit concerns through the Council’s general complaints process, and I do not have direct access to the waste management department. I am also unable to visit Canenco directly as it is a closed operational site.
I made it clear that I consider it unacceptable that residents cannot report missed collections after the 24-hour period and that there appears to be little focus on addressing the underlying issue of repeated missed collections. I have therefore indicated that I will be raising a formal complaint regarding the matter.
However, I feel it is only fair to manage expectations. The Parish Council currently has another complaint outstanding with Canterbury City Council which has remained unresolved for over a year. Whilst we will continue to press for improvements on behalf of residents, I cannot guarantee that a prompt resolution will be forthcoming.
In the meantime, I strongly encourage all residents to report any missed bin collections directly to Canterbury City Council as soon as possible and within the required reporting period.