Nobody should have to do unsafe work.
The documents released by Brighton & Hove City Council make clear that waste collections on parts of Auckland Drive involve real challenges. The route includes steep slopes, steps and long walking distances. A January 2026 council risk review describes risks for collection crews when moving wheelie bins, including slips and falls, manual-handling injuries, fatigue and noise exposure during glass collections.
Residents do not dismiss those concerns. We want collection staff to be safe.
But identifying a safety concern is not, on its own, an answer to the separate question of which solution should be chosen.
What the review found
The council’s review covers a route between Auckland Drive and Hornby Road. It records a path with steps at both ends, a gradient of approximately 15 to 20 degrees, and distances of around 100 to 150 metres. It says that full wheelie bins can weigh about 90kg.
The review identifies several significant risks for operatives, including:
- Slips, trips and falls on steps and sloped surfaces, particularly in wet or icy weather.
- Musculoskeletal injuries from pushing, pulling and controlling heavy bins on gradients.
- Bins becoming difficult to control on slopes.
- Exposure to waste where bins tip or spill.
- Noise exposure during glass collections.
These are serious issues. They deserve a serious response.
What other measures were identified?
The council’s earlier health-and-safety material did not describe communal bins as the only possible response. It referred to a broader range of potential measures, including:
- A section-by-section approach to the access problems.
- Ramps or drop kerbs where feasible.
- Residents bringing bins to agreed collection points.
- More frequent collections to reduce bin weight.
- Bin-handling aids, such as trolleys or bin pullers.
- Working with Highways and Housing on physical changes that could improve access.
The later review also refers to controls such as repositioning bins to the nearest safe, level point where practicable; adjusted collection expectations; and stopping work on slopes in unsafe weather.
That does not mean every alternative is cheap, practical or suitable. It does mean residents are entitled to ask how each option was assessed, what it would cost, and why particular measures were accepted or rejected.
The unanswered questions
Before a change that affects every household is treated as inevitable, the council should be able to answer clearly:
- Which alternatives were fully developed and costed?
- Which alternatives were ruled out, and on what evidence?
- Were physical access improvements compared with the impact of communal bins on residents?
- How were the needs of people who would have to carry waste along slopes, steps or uneven ground considered?
- How will the final arrangement work safely for collection crews, pedestrians, road users and residents?
Safety for everyone
Internal council correspondence also records Highways concerns about placing large communal bins in roadside parking bays. The advice noted possible obstructions, restricted road space, poor visibility at night, and the risk that parking opposite the bins could block the road.
The point is not that the council should ignore staff safety. It is that a safe solution for staff must also be safe, accessible and workable for residents, pedestrians and the road itself.
Auckland Drive deserves a transparent, properly evidenced comparison of the available options not simply a conclusion that communal bins are the quickest or cheapest operational answer.
Read the source documents
- Final Risk Review: Waste Collection, Auckland Drive to Hornby Road (January 2026)
- Options Appraisal Table
- Internal council correspondence, including Highways advice
Please read the underlying documents and form your own view.