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    Most read Comments
    Clearing up after the young ones

    TO many Southampton residents they are the irresponsible and grotesque caricatures of the popular TV sitcom The Young Ones.

    And the mountains of waste - from mattresses and unwanted furniture to piles of old papers - that blight the gardens and streets where students live has not helped dispel that image.

    Now, in response to calls for action, council rubbish inspectors will soon be door-knocking students as part of a crackdown on the end-of-year dumping.

    Southampton City Council will also start to hold landlords to account for the rubbish left by their tenants at the end of term.

    Waste chiefs want to end reliance and abuse of a free waste "clear-up" and will now charge £25 for collection of ten bulk items.

    The council will work with universities and students' groups to raise the profile of the problem with an information campaign involving e-mails, letters and door-knocking - accompanied by police and community support officers if needed.

    Student volunteers will be recruited to become "recycling champions" to encourage others to act in an environmentally friendly way rather than like the slobby social inadequates portrayed in The Young Ones, a 1980s TV series starring Rik Mayall.

    Landlords will be warned they could face legal action under environmental legislation if they do not clean up their properties. Residents will also be encouraged to ring an action line to report problems.

    Andrew Trayer, the council's head of waste, said: "It's about making sure residents know we are taking this issue seriously.

    "We cannot allow irresponsible behaviour that impacts on people's lives."

    Last July the council collected 45 tonnes of waste in a bulk waste clear-up of houses in Portswood and the Polygon, costing the taxpayer more than £6,000.

    Southampton has a student population of 41,000 between its two universities, with an estimated half living in rented accommodation.

    Lorraine Barter from Residents Action Group in the Polygon, one of the worst affected areas, said: "This place is awash with ironing boards and furniture when they leave."

    She said there was risk of increasing the problem by charging to clear waste.

    "If people will have to pay £25 some will begrudge spending the money," she said, adding: "I totally support enforcement. It should have been done years ago."

    Colin Bagust, a Southampton spokesman for the National Federation of Residential Landlords, said: "There clearly has been a problem in previous years. The council has been concerned tradesmen and outsiders have brought the waste in. The proposals are very reasonable."

    He said landlords would contact tenants about the scheme.

    A Southampton University spokesman said it was already working with the council, landlords and residents on waste management initiatives such as funding a new weekend clear-up and actively promoting awareness of recycling and waste issues among all its students.

    A Southampton Solent University spokesman said: "We will to continue work closely with the appropriate agencies to inform and raise awareness among students and landlords of correct and environmentally sound waste disposal."


    DO YOU KNOW A YOUNG ONE'?

    Do you have a "Young Ones" house mate? Is his or her room the pits?

    Or is your teenage son's bedroom something that would make TV clean-up queens Kim and Aggie shudder?

    We want the evidence.

    Send us photos of the mess and mayhem so we can name and shame the guilty.

    There will be prizes of clean-up goodies for those pics we print.

    E-mail your photos to picdesk@dailyecho.co.uk. Text pictures to 80360 (25p plus your usual network charge).

    So what are you waiting for? Shame them into cleaning up!

    10:03am Tuesday 8th April 2008

    Print   Email this   Comment
    Posted by: IOW.... the next Jersey. on 10:15am Tue 8 Apr 08
    The mattresses are likely full of bedbugs and it's the scum landlords dumping them outside, only to be moved to other properties by even scummier landlords spreading bedbugs around the city.
    Posted by: hulla, baloo on 10:34am Tue 8 Apr 08
    Charging to collect rubbish will probably only fly tipping, not reduce it


    "Landlords will be warned they could face legal action under environmental legislation if they do not clean up their properties"

    This regulation appears to be forgotten about when it comes to the travellers sites
    Posted by: Noi-Face-Noi, Winchester on 11:52am Tue 8 Apr 08
    Obviously there's little excuse for the state of a lot of areas but sometimes I can hardly blame them.

    A friend of mine tried to take an old toilet seat to his local refuse dump. He lives 500 yrds from it and so walked there. When he got there he was approached before he got through the gate and was told that he couldn't enter the dump unless he was in a car!! After all sorts of negotiations there was no way he could legally dispose of it without being in a car. This would indicate that unless you own a car you can't dispose of waste using council facilities.

    A week prior to this my dad went on his merry way to the same tip in his car(!) and with his trailer which he's used 100's of times. Got there. Got turned away because the trailer was bigger than 6'x4'!!! All domestic waste and got turned away.

    My point is that maybe it's too much hassle to take items to council run dumps and this would promote fly tipping?
    Posted by: Vyvyan, Southampton on 12:15pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Some bright spark had the bright idea to start charging trades people to dump their waste. What's happened? an increase in fly tipping.

    Sadly nothing this council says or does is funny, certainly not as funny as The Young Ones.
    Posted by: Lorraine Barter, Southampton on 1:02pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Most of the students are good neighbours, they make the area safer by being out at night and they would always help anyone in trouble.
    But the Universities should have got to grips with the problem years ago by taking photos of HMO Horrors in front garden and putting these photos on notice boards at the Unis, displaying them at Freshers Week events and publishing them in student magazines.
    How about starting now ?
    There must be willing students on the Media Studies and Photography courses, or just supply the long term residents groups with a digital camera
    The Unis know where to find us, as we have had plenty of publicity in the past ten years !
    Posted by: Osama Bin Laden, A Cave far far away on 1:11pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Its the students and the chavs

    2 sets of the human race we could do without

    Bring back the death sentence!!!
    Posted by: Hugh Carres on 1:27pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Vyvyan wrote:
    Some bright spark had the bright idea to start charging trades people to dump their waste. What's happened? an increase in fly tipping.

    Sadly nothing this council says or does is funny, certainly not as funny as The Young Ones.
    So, if someone blatantly breaks the law - as in fly tipping. You are advocating changing the law back ?

    Make the punishment far worse, custodial if necessary and these white van cowboys woudl soon stop.

    Young lady, you really should think your ideas through.
    Posted by: hmm on 1:28pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Benefit people casuing issues
    Posted by: Keith Oftergrass on 1:31pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    About time too !

    Make these workshy, anti-social, layabouts....sorry Students, liable for Council Tax and the massive revenue generated would be more than enough to clean up after the dirty little sods.
    Posted by: hulla, baloo on 2:05pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Keith Oftergrass wrote:
    About time too ! Make these workshy, anti-social, layabouts....sorry Students, liable for Council Tax and the massive revenue generated would be more than enough to clean up after the dirty little sods.
    Make then liable for council tax and it will either get added to their benefits, or not made to pay due to a low, or non existent income.
    Pointless exercise
    Posted by: Keith Oftergrass on 3:07pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    hulla wrote:
    Keith Oftergrass wrote:
    About time too ! Make these workshy, anti-social, layabouts....sorry Students, liable for Council Tax and the massive revenue generated would be more than enough to clean up after the dirty little sods.
    Make then liable for council tax and it will either get added to their benefits, or not made to pay due to a low, or non existent income.
    Pointless exercise
    No, not pointless - if they can't afford to layabout for 3 years whilst pursuing a totally useless degree - don't do it !!

    Why should their ability to pay have anything to do with it, perhaps it might make them think a bit more about their community if they have to contribute to it ? From some of the stories on here recently they find enough cash to drink themselves to death on a regular basis !
    Posted by: toxteth o'grady on 3:30pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    I still hold the world record for stuffing marshmellows up one nostril !
    Posted by: student grant on 3:31pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    don't you just love the sound of the ill-bred unedcated oiks having a go at students? Just because you useless twats couldn't pass the exams and enjoy the benefits of a degree course for f**ks sake stop griping about those of us who could. Education is what separates us from the animals - and on this evidence, Southampton is full of beasts who haven't learned to walk on their hind legs.....
    Posted by: Laughing Lil, Somewhere over the rainbow on 3:34pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Noi-Face-Noi wrote:
    Obviously there's little excuse for the state of a lot of areas but sometimes I can hardly blame them. A friend of mine tried to take an old toilet seat to his local refuse dump. He lives 500 yrds from it and so walked there. When he got there he was approached before he got through the gate and was told that he couldn't enter the dump unless he was in a car!! After all sorts of negotiations there was no way he could legally dispose of it without being in a car. This would indicate that unless you own a car you can't dispose of waste using council facilities. A week prior to this my dad went on his merry way to the same tip in his car(!) and with his trailer which he's used 100's of times. Got there. Got turned away because the trailer was bigger than 6'x4'!!! All domestic waste and got turned away. My point is that maybe it's too much hassle to take items to council run dumps and this would promote fly tipping?
    Absolutely right. We constantly have big stuff (like fridges, sofa's etc) dumped on our road and it's only because people can't take them to the dump and the council charges over £120 to collect certain items!!!

    And I shouldn't think your friend gets any money off his council tax if he can't use the dump because he doesn't have a car?!

    What a load of rubbish.....
    Posted by: A. Graduate, Southampton on 3:40pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Osama Bin Laden wrote:
    Its the students and the chavs

    2 sets of the human race we could do without

    Bring back the death sentence!!!
    Work shy anti-social layabout? Really? Surely giving up a minimum of 3yrs to educate yourself for better career prospects can hardly be seen as work shy?
    After all I'm now paying a higher TAX bracket for having bettered myself educationally!!
    Students theses days are not fortunate enough to have full grants to go to Uni. Therefore to expect them to pay council tax would push more people from lower income families out of education.

    Until both sets of the community chose to work better together there will always be this divide which cause some ignorant people to make such prejudice comments as the one above.
    Posted by: Christoff on 4:20pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    A. Graduate wrote:
    Osama Bin Laden wrote: Its the students and the chavs 2 sets of the human race we could do without Bring back the death sentence!!!
    Work shy anti-social layabout? Really? Surely giving up a minimum of 3yrs to educate yourself for better career prospects can hardly be seen as work shy? After all I'm now paying a higher TAX bracket for having bettered myself educationally!! Students theses days are not fortunate enough to have full grants to go to Uni. Therefore to expect them to pay council tax would push more people from lower income families out of education. Until both sets of the community chose to work better together there will always be this divide which cause some ignorant people to make such prejudice comments as the one above.
    MOST graduates are not able secure a career as the industries that they have been studying to become a part of have been happily employing people who they can train and encourage to work their way up from the bottom of the pile, safe in the knowledge that they will learn and contribute more than a student in a lecture hall.

    Before you say it, I went to Uni and studied and passed etc but I have since seen the realities of getting employed.

    If your degree was the main factor in allowing you to command a higher rate tax band salary then you must have studied a specialist course for a specialist career or you have been lucky. Either way you are in the minority as most people I have met have not found a degree to be a ticket to a good job.

    I am on a career path that I am happy with but only after I gave up all hope of following the path my degree 'alleged' I could follow.

    I think the various industries, universities and colleges need to be a little more honest about the actual scope and impact a degree REALLY has. It will save some people from wasting 3 years only to start at the bottom of the pile.
    Posted by: Lorraine Barter, Southampton on 5:08pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    student grant wrote:
    don\'t you just love the sound of the ill-bred unedcated oiks having a go at students? Just because you useless twats couldn\'t pass the exams and enjoy the benefits of a degree course for f**ks sake stop griping about those of us who could. Education is what separates us from the animals - and on this evidence, Southampton is full of beasts who haven\'t learned to walk on their hind legs.....
    It may surprise you that most of us had to go out to work at the age of 15 to help our parents with bills, there were few social security benefits so it was work or starve.But somehow we managed to write properly, spell and find employment in quite skilled jobs.
    Few of us even wanted to be students as in those days it meant 3 years of deprivation
    and sacrifice.
    No money for clubbing
    and and no chance to
    live in HMOs and allow filthy condition to prevail.
    Posted by: Sceptic aka The 12th century Druid and Political Activist KEN SMITH, Waterside on 5:24pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    toxteth o'grady wrote:
    I still hold the world record for stuffing marshmellows up one nostril !
    Up Scumbag! Up Scumbag!...What about the record for 'The Worlds Stickiest Bogey' though?
    Posted by: King Mush, Woolston on 5:26pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    NOI-FACE-NOI

    "A friend of mine tried to take an old toilet seat to his local refuse dump. He lives 500 yrds from it and so walked there. When he got there he was approached before he got through the gate and was told that he couldn't enter the dump unless he was in a car!!"

    So why didnt he simply ask to get into someone's car and tell the jobsworth where to stick the toilet seat when entering the sacred site?

    Posted by: Banker on 6:13pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Osama Bin Laden wrote:
    Its the students and the chavs

    2 sets of the human race we could do without

    Bring back the death sentence!!!
    Oh yeh, we could well do without students. Next time you're feeling a bit ill, and go to the doctors, don't forget to poke him in the eye and say "I don't need any help from you, you bl00dy student". Same goes for your surgeon, your dentist, your lawyers, any other professional you might need to use at some point

    Friggin' idiot
    Posted by: Bambi on 6:18pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Ra ra ra! We're going to smash the oiks!

    You people moaning about students haven't got a clue what you're talking about. So a degree's pointless, is it? Well, I for one am quite happy to have my pointless degree, because it means I probably won't ever be out of a job, won't ever have to put up with shtty wages, have my job given to some immigrant who can't even speak the lingo, worry about NHS waiting lists, do a job I hate, or any of the other bollocks the moaning proles that couldn't be arsed to get an education whinge about over a pint of mild they can ill afford. Yeh, what a waste of time all that education was
    Posted by: Bambi is a on 7:42pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Bambi wrote:
    Ra ra ra! We're going to smash the oiks! You people moaning about students haven't got a clue what you're talking about. So a degree's pointless, is it? Well, I for one am quite happy to have my pointless degree, because it means I probably won't ever be out of a job, won't ever have to put up with shtty wages, have my job given to some immigrant who can't even speak the lingo, worry about NHS waiting lists, do a job I hate, or any of the other bollocks the moaning proles that couldn't be arsed to get an education whinge about over a pint of mild they can ill afford. Yeh, what a waste of time all that education was
    Tosser. All that education and you still turned out a daft racist
    Posted by: N/A, n/a on 9:50pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    Keith Oftergrass wrote:
    hulla wrote:
    Keith Oftergrass wrote: About time too ! Make these workshy, anti-social, layabouts....sorry Students, liable for Council Tax and the massive revenue generated would be more than enough to clean up after the dirty little sods.
    Make then liable for council tax and it will either get added to their benefits, or not made to pay due to a low, or non existent income. Pointless exercise
    No, not pointless - if they can't afford to layabout for 3 years whilst pursuing a totally useless degree - don't do it !! Why should their ability to pay have anything to do with it, perhaps it might make them think a bit more about their community if they have to contribute to it ? From some of the stories on here recently they find enough cash to drink themselves to death on a regular basis !
    So let's make further education out of reach for 80% of people and then get more 'QUALIFID PROFESSIONALS' from other countries in to help fill 'KEY' positions. Then, let's complain becuase the government is giving all the good jobs to foreigners!!! Great suggestion you muppet.
    Posted by: Condor Man, Southampton on 10:15pm Tue 8 Apr 08
    After getting all the attacks on students out the way how about the mess made daily by all the no hopers living on the sink estates? There's a Thornhill Tidy Team but the place still still a tip.

    There's a lot of envy of students in this city, possibly due to the high levels of inbreding going on which is clearly displayed in the poor exam results a lot of kids get.
    Posted by: Pukeko, Dunedin, NZ on 2:29pm Thu 10 Apr 08
    student grant wrote:
    don't you just love the sound of the ill-bred unedcated oiks having a go at students? Just because you useless twats couldn't pass the exams and enjoy the benefits of a degree course for f**ks sake stop griping about those of us who could. Education is what separates us from the animals - and on this evidence, Southampton is full of beasts who haven't learned to walk on their hind legs.....
    Given what I’ve seen of many Daddy’s boy rich students, we ‘uneducated’ might have less degrees, but more sense, not the reverse! And perhaps respect other people and the environment! I spent medium time frames in the student area, Southampton, and for pocket money, cleaned the buses there. On the buses that had obviously been carrying an abundance of students, was obvious, but the odious messes left, mixed with study papers strewn all over. Some of the messes were plainly deliberate, and occasionally there was even defecation in the back of double decker buses. Thus, I think your separation for the animals quote is somehow void, some, as a supposed human, haven't even learned to use a toilet, apparently. In reality you are worse, as an animal doesn’t know better, but can be trained, while anyone who does this should know better. “Oh, lets make a mess, we don’t have to clean it up!” yes, this goes on here. A student charter equals a trashed vehicle.
    Aside, this many are a shocking consumerist blatantly wasteful society and certainly do your bit to accelerate global warming!
    Arrogant prats.
    Posted by: Lorraine Barter, Southampton on 2:42pm Thu 10 Apr 08
    How ironic and apt that the non student pukeko
    writes so well and can spell !
    There must be many examples of the so called educated who cannot do that.
    Posted by: PATRICIA on 3:29pm Wed 23 Apr 08
    Prehaps if just one person in each H,M.O was responsable for the front garden of their home by making sure the recycled stuff is put into the correct bin ,and cardboard boxes of wine and beer bottles were taken to the bottle bank regularily it might be a good start in the right direction.
    Southampton is a university city and they are here for education,how much longer do'es it need to educate them as to what go'es into the blue top bin
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