Dundee City Council will permanently shut down bin chutes at all 10 multi-storey residential blocks over the coming year.
The decision was made on Monday following a successful trial of disposing rubbish in external bins was carried out at Burnside Court in Lochee.
Councillors were advised to approve the plans due to concerns they breach safety standards introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
From January to August, council officers held “extensive engagement” with the residents of Burnside Court to assess the impact of the chutes closures.
A report to the council’s neighbourhood services committee said that more than 80% of residents found the new disposal methods easy to adapt to.
Councillors asked a range of questions on the changes and how they will be monitored.
‘Impact assessment’
East End Labour Councillor Dorothy McHugh asked if an impact assessment had been made.
Responding, committee convener, Councillor Heather Anderson, said: “My understanding is there’s going to be full consultation with all of the tenants about what needs they have in response to the new arrangements.
“We will be assessing what support is required and looking at ways of assisting people, whether that’s providing smaller bins that are easier to open, or sorting out support arrangements.
“I know there’s going to be a very thorough analysis.”
‘Engage with tenants’
Louise Butchart, the council’s head of housing & construction, said: “It’s our intention to engage with every tenant living in the multi, with a view to undertaking a support needs assessment…and support them to use the bins at each multi-storey.”
‘Provision for people with disabilities’
Labour councillor for Lochee, Charlie Malone, asked: “Will we be making provision for people with disabilities?
“When the bins are being overused, people will start using disabled facilities and then further restricting the access to that…how’s that going to be monitored?”
Louise Butchart replied: “Like we did with Burnside, we’ve got staff on site daily who monitor, and could see if there’s any issues around waste overflowing.
“What we’re going to be doing at each multi-storey is reviewing the level of waste and use of the bins to determine the frequency of uplift. It might not be the same for every multi-storey, but we’ll be monitoring it and putting in place an appropriate uplift regime.”
‘Will there be checks?’
Conservative councillor for Broughty Ferry, Derek Scott raised concerns about rubbish left on landings and lifts: “Will there be checks?
“Will these be more frequent in the initial period of the change? Are we sure we have sufficient staffing resource to carry out thorough checks?”
Louise Butchart said: “Staff currently out daily checks of each of the multi-stories, several times a day…
“We also have technical officers inspecting the multi-stories from a fire safety and health perspective on the following fortnight.”
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