Letters
Dear Editor
Syston Fridge Bandits
Over the last year I have noticed many homes in syston that have an old fridge / freezers permanently abandoned on their driveway and almost every one appears to have had the compressor unit removed.
I am presuming that in all good faith, these homeowners assume the local scrap collectors will take them away. Alas this is not the case because they cannot legally do this due to the hazardous refrigerant gas which has to be disposed of correctly in order to protect the Ozone layer.
However, there are some unscrupulous scrap collectors that just remove the compressor unit which they can then weigh in at any obliging scrap yard. This results in hazardous refrigerant being released into the atmosphere and also leaves the homeowner with the sole responsibility for disposing of the appliance carcass that has no scrap value to anyone.
If you wish to defeat these Fridge Bandits and prevent further damage to the fragile Ozone layer:-
Most Leicestershire Recycling Centre’s will accept them at no cost although transport would be needed.
Alternatively, Charnwood Borough Council will collect them (charges apply, see: https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/special_collections). Note though that if the appliance is left on the drive prior to collection then the bandits may strike first.
Or, choose a replacement appliance retailer who will agree to take way the old one. Extra costs will apply but these can often be negotiated.
Depressingly, it seems the current abandoned appliances on residents driveways and adjacent pathways will remain for an eternity because once the compressor is removed they have no scrap value to anyone.
It would be nice to go for a walk any not encounter any at all !
RN
Charnwood Borough Council and they do collect fridges, freezers and fridge/freezers at a cost of £25 for up to three items. They also state that they collect these on a Saturday and that items should be placed outside before 6am.
Dear Editor
Having chased, I finally got a reply from our town council reference using my name/views without my knowledge/permission in their Syston Topic!
In brief, our town council does NOT see what the problem is, the content was ok’d by the Development Committee, so they ‘all agreed to use my details/views without my knowledge’, just gets better does it not! Seems then that the ‘note taking‘ exercise by the town council during a walkabout organised by the EA, wasn’t just for the benefit of the councillor in attendance, more likely perhaps to use whatever was said, whenever it suited, to ‘pad out’ the content of their own printed article!
I was invited to use the Syston Town Council online complaint procedure, and what a waste of my time that would be, the same people who say it’s NOT a problem would actually investigate the problem, no bias there then!
Mr Furniss