New homes should have bin stores, says Eric Pickles
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Your support makes all the difference.New homes should be built with storage areas for wheelie bins to end the scourge of “bin-blighted” streets in England, the Communities Secretary has said.
Eric Pickles is to issue planning guidance encouraging developers to create space in properties so bins and recycling boxes can be hidden away.
The guidance, to be published next week, will warn house builders that "unsightly bins left lying around the neighbourhood can damage the visual amenity of an area".
"Carefully planned bin storage is, therefore, important. Each dwelling should have enough storage space for all the different types of bin used in the local authority area (for example landfill, recycling, food waste)," it will add.
Mr Pickles said: "This Government is standing up for hard-working people and getting rid of barmy bin policies which made families' lives hell. I want to make sure families get a proper rubbish and recycling collection service for the large amount of money they have to pay in council tax.
"For years, badly-placed wheelie bins and the proliferation of multiple bins have created a blot on the landscape. In streets up and down the country, ugly bin clutter has ruined the street scene and the look of people's homes and gardens.
"By ensuring that developers create appropriate waste storage areas when designing new homes, we can tackle the ghastly gauntlet of bin blighted streets and driveways."
Shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn said: "Of course new homes should build in bin storage space, but a much bigger problem is that Eric Pickles has presided over the lowest level of house building since the 1920s.
"Rather than giving obvious advice to housebuilders, Eric Pickles would do better to explain why he spent an eye-watering quarter of a billion pounds on a failed scheme to persuade councils to change their bin collection arrangements that resulted in just one council changing their policy."
PA
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