WERE those responsible for drafting and implementing Trafford Council's domestic recycling programme (the bins) truly accountable, they would surely have been relieved of their positions long ago.

Anyone who has tried to negotiate with the council for a free grey bin to replace one they have not had returned will probably be familiar with the surreal and bewildering experience it quickly turns into.

Now, with the imminent introduction of a £35 charge (or £40 if you are elderly and/or poor, for we all know that that is the social group who, mostly, do not have internet access) the council have pulled off a masterstroke, in ill-conceived buffoonery, by managing to force a 'tax' (let's be clear, that is what it is) on people trying to do the right thing i.e. recycle their garden waste.

Why no charge for the blue or black bin? Perhaps we'll never know. Perhaps even they don't know. Most likely, though, that particular gem will come to pass in due course.

Here's the thing, though, what will Trafford do when permits go missing? Or when neighbours start to surreptitiously load their garden waste into someone else's bin? Or when council owned trees, shed council owned leaves into private gardens?

Having read the council's Q&A on who is responsible for each of these (and other) possible scenarios, I can foresee many, many calls being inexpertly fielded by members of council staff, from disgruntled members of the public. Wow, what a piece of messed up policy! I mean, did you think it through..at all?

It's not too late, you know, there's still time to repeal this nonsense and salvage a bit of dignity. Frankly, though, I hold out little hope given the reasoning that got us here in the first place (and, while I'm at it, those responsible for signing a 20-plus year deal with Amey should be hung out to dry).

As a footnote and from personal experience, after numerous emails and, often, bizarre telephone conversations, I got a replacement free grey bin thanks, largely, to the support of my councillor, Jane Baugh, who was both brilliant and as bloody-minded as I was.

R. Davies

Sale