Rubbish

Written by Jenny Randerson and published in Cardiff Post on Mon 30th Jun 2008

I have been thinking about rubbish a lot this week. Many members of the public are probably thinking that this is what most politicians spend their time thinking about normally but I have quite literally been thinking about how we deal with our rubbish. This follows the announcement by Cardiff Council that weekly food waste collections will be introduced, in line with a promise in the Lib Dems election Manifesto back in May.

Despite some attempts to paint this as bad news, it is clear to me that this will be an excellent step forward in making our City greener and cleaner. The food will be collected, as it is now, in bags or bins and will go along way to helping the city meet its recycling targets. In 2004, the City was miles behind other councils in Wales but since then, through the introduction of free recycling collections and composting, this has gradually improved. I am sure that these new collections will take us towards the top of the pile in Wales.

June is always a very difficult time for some residents of my constituency, particularly in Cathays and Roath when the annual student summer exodus takes place. Traditionally, this had been a flash point for tensions between students and all-year residents when rubbish would be piled in the street together with old furniture, fridges and assorted "beer-trophies" from the previous term. This year as in previous years, the Lib Dem Council worked with the University, the Students Union and other stakeholders to run the hugely successful "Get It Out for Cardiff" campaign. This sees the Council removing large amounts of rubbish and recyclables during the periods when students are vacating their houses. As a result, hundreds of tonnes of rubbish removed on a daily basis from the streets.

It is never easy to foster good relations between the two very distinct communities in these areas but measures like "Get It Out for Cardiff" and the Council's HMO licensing schemes will certainly help with this.