Nearly two months ago I attempted to join Merton's garden waste collection scheme. It was surprisingly difficult to join as I could never get through on the phone, always being held in a queue of 14 or so.

As I work during office hours, it wasn't possible to hang on the phone for more than a few minutes.

Merton Council's website tells me I can pay by cheque but doesn't tell me how or whom I should send this to. So I emailed in to ask, and eventually received a phone message telling me who to send the cheque to. I posted off my cheque for £65, which was cashed very quickly.

A couple of weeks passed and I received the garden waste bags I had opted for. According to the website, details of my fortnightly collection would be left with the bags - telling me if I was a white or yellow collection week. But they were not. A search of the council website gave me no useful information on when white or yellow collections were. I left full bags at the front of my property, and two ordinary refuse/recycling collections have passed. My garden waste has not gone with them as it should have done with at least one of those collections.

At the September council meeting, I had used the public questions section of the meeting to ask the relevant lead councillor, Councillor Saunders, if she would ensure Merton's website was updated to explain how one could join the scheme by post/sending in a cheque, and if they were planning on an online booking and payment scheme in the future.

Her answer was broadly that they preferred people to pay by direct debit and that "consideration needs be given to the complexity of the collection service before committing to operating an online booking service".

Why is this process so painful?

Anthony Fairclough

Merton Hall Road

 

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