There has been much in the Echo of late comparing Rochford and Southend’s refuse recycling rates and how Rochford is consistently higher and saying if Southend went to a fortnightly collection this would magically make Southend rates higher.

To try to compare Rochford to Southend is to completely not understand the problem as they are as different as chalk and cheese.

First we have Rochford, with a mainly static population and mainly owner-occupiers most with gardens etc.

There are very few flats and certainly no high rise buildings and very few visitors. There are a relatively small number of fast food outlets and restaurants.

On the other hand we have Southend. The population is a mixture of both static and transient residents. These are made up of owner-occupiers and tenants with many flats (including high-rise blocks) and HMOs.

Summer visitors flock to the seaside and leave behind mountains of rubbish which can’t be recycled as it is contaminated.

The number of retail businesses, especially fast food outlet, is far greater than that of the Rochford area.

Many of the flats are converted houses, office blocks and shops, which when built, recycling was not even considered.

Often there are no gardens as the buildings are on the boundary of the property (recycling is very low with this type of dwelling).

Also there are a number of deprived areas in the town, again with very low recycling.

Now Veolia does a very good job with the weekly collections and it works very well but the thing that is letting us all down is Southend Council with their refusal to take any legal action against fly tipping, litter droppers and dog fouling.

There are threats and stern warnings but no legal action, and the council will work hard to come up with reasons for not taking action. There appears to be a “can’t do” culture.

So please Southend Council stop trying to compare Southend, a seaside town (soon to be a City) with Rochford and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Mr & Mrs Carrigan

Belle Vue Avenue, Southend