Being Neighbourly of Van Riebeeck Park writes:
Recent articles and readers’ correspondence about emptied wheelie bins being left in driveways refer.
Yes, many of us have been irritated when arriving home in a vehicle and finding the emptied wheelie bin across the driveway, blocking easy entrance.
If there’s no one in the house or a passenger in your vehicle to move it for you, the problem necessitates the driver stopping/switching off the engine/exiting the vehicle in order to move the bin.
At this juncture, somewhat tongue in cheek, let us all be grateful that the bin has actually been emptied.
The issue has recently again been raised at community crime forum meetings, frequently attended also by one or more ward councillors. Apart from residents obviously being on the lookout for suspicious vehicles or people nearby, or other activities which might give one cause for concern, it was interesting to be told that one could and should report this problem, in order that “training” (or “further training”) could be given to the refuse team regarding placing the emptied bin where it does not block a driveway.
Apparently, you need to supply your road name and suburb, plus the day and date of bin-emptying, and this should enable the department to track which vehicle and team was working that route on that date, so that it can be dealt with.
If you don’t notify the metro that there is this problem, they will remain unaware and obviously take no action.
It was separately suggested that residents should be “good neighbours” and if they see a neighbour’s driveway blocked by an emptied bin, move the bin out of the way. Yes, that is being neighbourly, and helpful, but on the other hand, if that neighbour has lodged a complaint (or maybe even hasn’t), then he will be under the impression that “someone, somewhere” has at last “done something about the problem”, when, in fact, nothing of the sort has been done, and the problem actually persists.
