I AM an ardent supporter of domestic recycling and it is pleasing to note that West Devon has received a commendable categorisation for the borough?s waste management strategy However, I would urge our borough councillors to firmly put the lid on any suggestion to introduce wheelie bins to our homes. These giant green receptacles are a modern eyesore that ruin the visual charm and delight of Dartmoor?s pretty towns and villages. They are a further unwelcome intrusion to the elderly and infirm who find the bins difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate along garden paths and up and down steps. Many terraced town houses and small rural cottages simply have insufficient space to store these ridiculous receptacles and so they are left in the street as a permanent fixture, becoming an ugly blot on our daily landscape. I further read in the Times that our ?waste management mandarins? are considering changing the collection of our household rubbish from a weekly routine to a fortnightly one. Can you begin to imagine the summertime smell that will pervade our streets and gardens if this becomes the norm? This really is the final outrage. Those of us who live in rural areas receive scant reward for our gigantic council tax bills. Weekly waste collection is the only council service that I and many others really benefit from. Wheelie bins ? you can shove them . . . Keith Scrivener Sheepstor
