Bins,rubbish & Smells on Forest Hill Road

[Frankie G]

I love the painted posts and the French Cafe al fresco eating and Si Mangia and even the chippy BUT do the bins have to line the pavement??? Surely the shops have to take some responsibility for making sure the rubbish is actually in the bin? Yesterday there where 3 huge empty tomatoe sauce containers by the side of the bin! I won't even go on about the smell !

[The Minkey]

Why not do something about it and take it up with Environmental Health?

[fl0wer]

The street clutter of rubbish stacked outside the Forest Hill Rd Co-Op surfaced as an important concern locally, on a thread started the other day about that shop's coming re-fit.

In fact several stores along that section of street are allowed territory across the pavement, including outdoor seating and awnings. In some parts they take up most of the room for pedestrians, as they do on Lordship Lane. Possibly there are old tenancy agreements giving shopkeepers rights to use a certain width, meant originally for merchandise display, etc.

Walkers then have to weave through a narrow space between the diners and - yes - the bins you mention. These clearly contain rotting fish scraps and have done ever since I came to the area. Worst in sultry weather but always noisesome and probably flytippers put more stuff there overnight. People regularly complain and industrial-sized containers are given an occasional purge by the company that operates them.

The rubbish cannot be good business for it puts many of us off using those eateries.

The street is not the right site for bulk or weekly-emptied bins at all IMHO. In warmer cities they have dustmen coming round every 24 hrs. Food refuse is taken away before it decomposes. Restaurateurs don't allow the rubbish outside until closing time, when it's the last job of kitchen staff to put it ready for midnight collection.

I think as the climate is changing Public Health is going to have to order rubbish circuits more often but who will pay for this extra attention? And how many folks asleep in flats nearby will appreciate that crash of the waste lorries coming round?

[Penguin68]

If (a) the 'pavement' space immediately outside the Coop is actually theirs (as it is e.g for Si Mangia) and if (b) they need to keep unsightly refuse outside the shop because of space issues then maybe © in the re-furb they could errect some sort of screened enclosure (possibly with evergreen shrub in containers to act as a screen - that would be better) in which to store their rubbish. At the moment they are blighting the shop space overall, and their frontage in particular. A better 'frontage' might even encourage more shoppers.

[alice]

The co-op seems to have plenty of space at the back of the shop to store their rubbish - google maps -

rather than financing the painting of those overflowing bins - the council could be looking to relocate them

[fl0wer]

Yes, I think relocation would be preferable as anything like a screen could make it easier for break-ins when shops are closed.

Evidently, from other recent reports here in the EDF, street crime needs to be prevented along here as well.

[Frankie G]

Great to see like minded people on here. I love eating in Si Mangia and having a coffee in the French Cafe or buying fish and chips but I hate the rubbish. And to the minky person......this is a forum for the odd comment, I have also emailed the environmental health. Lethargy is not the reason I put it on here, I like the general chit chat!