‘Bin bags and the weather – it’s all just rubbish’
10:45am Wednesday 13th June 2012 in Skipper
Now I admit I may have come across as far too positive in this column last week, but you’ll be glad to know I will be putting it right this time round.
Any vestiges of Jubilee spirit I may have had disappeared with an early morning walk through the streets yesterday morning.
There were literally dozens of bin bags, all ripped open by gulls or rats, with their contents strewn across the pavements and roads.
When the much-publicised changes to bin collection days come in a few months ago, people complained that the changes were leading to problems getting their waste picked up.
These current problems have nothing to do with that though. They are being caused instead by a number of elements – including people putting their bins out too early, and using big bags and not bins.
It is a disgusting sight, and quite what any early morning visitors make of the state of the streets is anybody’s guess.
The most upsetting thing about it all is the fact you do not see these sorts of problems when you travel abroad.
People seem far keener to look after their streets in other countries – and I can only imagine it comes down to education at an early age.
We must take steps to tackle this problem at source – whether it is through providing more bins, or by teaching people to take more pride in their local environment, something must be done and quickly.
Now, and still talking rubbish – I have another thing to get off my chest – the weather.
What is happening this year? We seem to be in a pattern where we get two weeks of promising, dry and sunny weather before we are deluged by wind and rain for another month.
At a time when many families are unable to afford foreign holidays, it seems a cruel joke to impose some of the most unseasonable weather on Cornwall in living memory.
Our tourist industry should be – and pardon the pun – making hay while the sun shines. Instead, they are merely providing shelter to visitors from the relentless rain.
The worry is that, when the economy improves, people will not want to come back to a destination they associate with gloomy skies.
You can only hope we are merely being teased before a glorious two months of sunshine in July and August – although I will only believe it when I see it.
