Unemptied bin inspires poetry in Bracknell

Gorden Allen said the bin on Horndean Road has been left neglected for weeks

A man who is regularly emptying an overflowing bin because no else is, has written a poem about its plight.

"I'm just a poor bin, nobody wants me," is the opening line of the work by Gordon Allen, a litter-picking volunteer in Forest Park, Bracknell.

He said the bin on Horndean Road has been left neglected for weeks.

"It's fallen into no-man's land," he explained. "The council is playing ping-pong with it as no-one wants to take responsibility."

He has called on Winkfield Parish and Bracknell Forest councils to take charge, amid apparent confusion over who the private owner is.

Mr Allen added: "The owners of the land do no upkeep of the car park and that incudes this particular bin.

"It overflows, goes down the car park and ends up everywhere. The whole area is suffering because of one bin not being serviced properly."

Mr Allen sent a poem "Am I a Has Bin?" to Bracknell News in a bid to draw attention to the problem.

'Private bin'

Swinley Forest councillor Patrick Smith said he had spoken with Mr Allen about the bin.

But he said the land outside the shops was divided among several private landowners, and that it was not clear who was responsible.

He said: "We're writing to the store owners at the shops to see if we can get them to be a bit more proactive. We're not entirely sure who's responsible for it or who placed it there.

"Because it is a privately-owned bin, we can't empty it ourselves. The owner should be picking that up alongside the other bins."

Bracknell Forest Council said it would "encourage" the owner to empty it, but did not answer questions as to whether it knew who the owner was.

Damian James, assistant director for contract services, said: "This is a private bin and the responsibility to empty it lies with the landowner.

"The council cannot take on the responsibility for emptying private bins."

Mr Allen began picking and recycling litter in Forest Park after surviving a stroke.

He said going for regular walks and using the litter picker was helping his recovery.

He said: "I need to focus on getting my left hand and coordination working again.

"I found putting a litter picking stuff into the left was making my brain work on the left hand side."

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