D Jones (Evening Press, January 3) challenges me to justify the £60,000 extra cost of a "back gate" wheeled bin collection service for terraced areas.

Let's assume a bin lorry, hoist equipment, driver, crew, fuel, insurance, etc together costs £45 per hour. That's 75p per minute. Then let's take the time to pull back an empty bin from the kerbside to an average terrace back gate and return as a brisk 20 seconds. So a crew of two might pull back six bins in a minute. The cost per bin is thus over 12p.

With 10,000 terraced properties in the proposed scheme, the annual cost will therefore be over £60,000.

No need for even Mr Blobby's computer, let alone the Prime Minister's.

Of course, our officers could provide a more detailed and sophisticated analysis but I doubt that either D Jones or other readers would be much interested.

The council's policy is that a wheeled bin collection should be from the point closest to where the bin lorry can stop without blocking the pavement. Every other local authority providing a wheeled bin service seems to have the same policy.

The real question then is why D Jones considers that York terraced properties should have a more expensive collection service than residents in the suburban or rural areas (whose back doors may be even further from the roadside) or than terraced residents elsewhere (including those in Fulford)? And which service would he/she propose to cut to pay for it?

I have made it clear that where the majority of terraced residents don't wish to pull out wheeled bins then they can retain the black bag system.

Coun Martin Brumby,

Chair, Environmental Services Committee,

City of York Council.

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