A PETITION has been launched by residents in York who are opposed to changes to their refuse collections – including a decision to scrap the wheelie bin system.

Kenneth Hartas, of Salisbury Terrace, said he was outraged by City of York Council’s decision to make residents rather than refuse collectors remove the bin bags from their wheelie bins on collection day.

He said residents in his street had been informed by letter that refuse would only be collected fortnightly and must be left at the front of their properties in bin bags.

Mr Hartas, 57, said in the past, refuse had been collected weekly from wheelie bins positioned at the rear of their properties, and he had concerns the new system would cause traffic chaos in Salisbury Terrace.

He said: “We live on one of the busiest roads in York and when the wagon comes down it is going to block everything up and cause mayhem.”

“The footpath is also a main route for children walking to school.

“It’s only four feet wide and if every household puts out five or six bin bags on collection day, it’s going to be bedlam.

“We are also worried about the extra litter that will be created on our street when all the bin bags are ripped open by animals or kicked about by people leaving the pub. It’s going to be a blessed nuisance.”

Mr Hartas said he had placed a petition in Leeman Road Stores for residents to sign and would be presenting it to Holgate ward committee at its meeting on Tuesday.

Geoff Derham, head of waste services, said they were introducing the new system of alternating recycling collections one week with refuse collections the next to around 20,000 homes across the city.

He said residents were being asked to place their refuse and recycling at the front of their properties because many of the back lanes in the area were being fitted with gates to improve security.

He said if the wheelie bins were not suitable for residents as a storage container, the council would remove them and replace them with smaller, round plastic bins.

“We have consulted widely with various organisations representing elderly and disabled people and they do not see it as a major issue,” he said.

“We do not see there being a problem with bags on footpaths as this type of collection happens widely elsewhere in York.

“If a resident chooses to put it out the night before, though, it is no more susceptible to ‘attack’ than if it were left in a back lane.”