I WOULD like to thank you for the invaluable part that your printing my letter, which had been copied to Fenland District Council, undoubtedly played in ensuring that commonsense should prevail regarding the collection of household waste from Nene Parade,

I WOULD like to thank you for the invaluable part that your printing my letter, which had been copied to Fenland District Council, undoubtedly played in ensuring that commonsense should prevail regarding the collection of household waste from Nene Parade, March.

I have just received a letter in reply from Mark Matthews, environmental services manager at Fenland Council, informing me that as a result of my communication, the council has abandoned the intention to have wheelie bins placed at the front of properties.

I assume this will mean there will be no need for the specially adapted vehicle to drive down Nene Parade and through the pedestrian-only area.

We will retain collection from the rear of our properties as at present. I would just like to add that I have never opposed the use of wheelie bins as a better method of sorting and storing waste for collection, just the sheer silliness of putting them at the front of properties.

All this effort and wasted public money could have been avoided by the simple expedient of a properly-conducted consultation. We were told through your original article that all householders had been consulted and this clearly was not the case. Mr Matthews' letter now informs me that 'previously we had performed a visual street-based survey to identify the properties that might have problems making use of wheelie bins'.

Last Saturday, we did have a consultation when two members of Fenland Council staff did a house-to-house call and recorded individual responses. The outcome is that according to Mr Matthews, about 50 per cent of the residents will retain the black sack collection and the remainder get wheelie bins.

I'd like to ask the council if anyone is ever held to account over such clear waste of council taxpayers' time and money. I'd like it to look at the facts in this case.

There will now be a need for two vehicles to make these collections - the small caged truck that collects the black bags and the adapted vehicle to collect the wheelie bins, because the big road vehicle cannot get down our small private lanes at the rear of properties, and the additional cost of men sent out to do the consultation, who were presumably on overtime because it was a Saturday, when we were assured that this had been done by letter previously.

The issue of a proper consultation letter with an attached questionnaire could have avoided all of this.

JOHN ABBOTT

Nene Parade

March