Is the council waste-ing your time?
Plus: Trentina refreshes its menu
Good morning readers — welcome to Friday’s Dispatch.
Our Brum in Brief holds more council news — apparently they want to to make bin collections fortnightly. Plus, a delicious-sounding new menu at Trentina.
Before that, I’ve eased off on the growth updates this week to give you all a break but I think it’s about time for one! After breaking the 5k barrier at the start of the week we are striding ahead and now have 5,162 lovely readers. Make sure there’s space in your Saturday morning schedule to enjoy our in-depth read alongside your coffee this weekend.
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Brum in Brief
🚮 Birmingham’s waste collection is set to be overhauled as part of the commissioner’s plans to reshape the City Council and save money. Mr Caller told BirminghamLive: "Birmingham will not have things done in the same way (from next year). Take refuse collection - this city is very poor about recycling.”
👨⚕️ A doctor who travelled across Europe from Kyiv to reach Coventry after the Russian invasion has told his story to the BBC. 29-year-old Anuoluwapo Ojo made his way through Poland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands before getting to the West Midlands to study for his masters in Psychology. "I had only seen missile shots in movies, but I saw it with my own eyes," he said.
✍️ Another public consultation for you, this time courtesy of West Midlands Police commissioner Simon Foster. He is seeking your views on issues facing policing ahead of setting next year’s budget. He’s especially interested t hear thoughts on the government’s proposed up-to-£13 a year council tax rise.
⚖️ Pro-Palestine activists rallied outside Birmingham Magistrate’s Court yesterday in support of four people who were arrested after occupying the Kitts Green Arconic factory in June 2022. They were protesting Arconic for manufacturing materials used in Grenfell Tower and weapons used by the Israel Defence Forces. The case will go to crown court on 11 January and the defendents are facing charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
🍝 Pasta restaurant Trentina in the Jewelery Quarter has a new menu to delve into between now and 1 January. The sea salt Foccaccia sounds delicious.
👼 A children’s carol service takes place tomorrow afternoon at St Philip’s Cathedral on Colmore Row. It will be a relaxed and interactive service for all ages and fancy dress is encouraged. 2 pm.
👨👨👧 This monthly Trace Your Ancestors club in Warwick sounds like a fascinating way to get expert advice on researching your forebears. Genealogist Paul Wilkins will lead Saturday’s session focusing on illegitimacy in family history. 9.30 am. Tickets £10.
Personally, most of my rubbish goes into the recycling bins, and relatively little goes in the 'general waste bin', so I could easily live with a fortnightly collection. Unfortunately as I live in a low-rise block, I share communal bins with neighbours who are less likely to use the recycling bins, preferring to fill our two household bins with black bags until the lids can't close.
Also, we have a separate wheelie bin for paper and cardboard, and some people don't understand/care that you can fit more in if you flatten boxes properly. I also lose track of the number of times I have to fish out bags of plastic waste and other rubbish that shouldn't be in there.
One commenter on that BirminghamLive story mentioned Ceredigion County Councils approach to refuse and recycling, and I would agree having stayed in a holiday rental in Wales earlier this year. They collect recyclable waste every week, and non-recyclable 'household' rubbish every three weeks. Larger households can purchase a wheelie bin for convenience, otherwise bags are provided and are picked up from the roadside on collection days.
I also found it interesting that they don't charge for garden waste collections, instead they sell rolls of bags at libraries and community centres, and you just have to request a collection when you have filled bags ready to be collected.
I think this is a far more efficient system than BCC's, where you pay an annual subscription and receive a dedicated bin, that is collected every two weeks. I do use this service, but don't always have any garden waste to be collected, so I think it is a bit of a 'waste' (excuse the pun) to have refuse trucks driving around 'looking' to see if there are any bins to empty.