It is your responsibility to put your household rubbish out for collection on the right day. You shouldn’t put black bags out too early as bags can rip and rubbish could get scattered about the place. You should place bags outside either the night before or early morning on the day of collection.

If your home has a bin store or if you live in a block of flats where there is a dustbin area, please ensure that these areas are kept tidy.

Large items of rubbish such as old furniture will not be collected during the normal household collection. In order to remove large items you should contact the council to arrange a special collection.

The council will collect a maximum of three large items of refuse per household each year free of charge. This includes items such as an unwanted cooker or an old sofa . Large items usually take about 2 weeks to be collected, so you should make sure that you allow plenty of time to arrange a special collection. The telephone number for special large item collections is (01443) 494777.

If you are throwing out furniture check to see if it could be recycled. We work closely with an organisation called ‘TooGoodToWaste’ in Ferndale. They deal with second hand furniture and might take unwanted items off your hands! For more information ask your Housing Officer or call ‘TooGoodToWaste’ on (01443) 733600.

The Association employs two mobile caretakers to help keep our estates free from litter and graffiti and generally clean and tidy. The caretakers are only responsible for clearing the communal areas, so it is up to tenants to look after the areas in front of their house or flat and their gardens.

Tenants must accept some responsibility and help us to look after their estate. Children and visitors to the estate should be discouraged from dropping litter, writing graffiti and causing vandalism and should be encouraged to take pride in where they live.

If you need advice on pest and vermin control you should call the council Public Health and Protection department on (01443) 442100.