Caledonian Road barber fined for using wrong colour bin bag
Published: 24th June, 2011
by PETER GRUNER
ISLINGTON’s cleansing department was described as “mean-minded” this week after fining a Barnsbury barber £60 for putting rubbish out in the wrong-coloured bin bag.
Cosmo Cornelio, 74, who has run his salon in Caledonian Road, opposite Copenhagen Street, for more than 40 years, thought he was doing the right thing by putting rubbish in a plastic bag outside his shop on the right day at the right time.
But Mr Cornelio, who pays for his rubbish to be collected, used the wrong-coloured bin bag and has been fined by the council’s “environment police”.
He should have used a grey bin bag provided by rubbish firm Wastec, which works for the council. But because the grey bag was damaged after being put out on successive nights without being collected, Mr Cornelio placed the rubbish in one of his own black sacks.
“The grey bag was split so I put it in a new black bag,” he said. “I didn’t want all the contents to spill out onto the pavement. I thought I was doing the right thing and thinking about keeping the street clean.”
A street environment officer broke open the bag, found Mr Cornelio’s name and address and sent him a penalty fine.
Despite the waste being in the wrong bag, it was collected normally by the waste company overnight. “When I saw the bag had been removed I was relieved and thought no more about it,” Mr Cornelio said. “Then I got the fine and I was shocked. I just can’t afford these sorts of fines. This is a recession and I’m not getting the business to pay them.”
Neighbour David Johnson, a dental supplier and a member of the Federation of Small Businesses, is appalled that the council could be so “mean-minded”.
“I’m a customer and friend of Cosmo and I believe he’s been treated extremely harshly,” he added. “He made an honest mistake but to fine him for that is extremely unfair.”
Labour environment chief Councillor Paul Smith said: “We are on the side of residents who want a clean and pleasant environment, which means the council wants everyone to dispose of their waste properly.
“We’ve explained this to this shop before. We’d rather premises co-operate than have to use enforcement, but if they don’t, we can and will issue fines as a deterrent.”