Sweeping cuts in St. John's upset Golden Broom winner

Tough economic times have forced the City of St. John's to make a number of cuts in its latest budget, but one not-so-ordinary city resident is unhappy about the city's decision to cancel its bulk garbage collection service. 

• Bulk garbage pickup curbed, group worries St. John's will be trashed
• Property taxes rise with new St. John's budget

Walter Harding was recently named citizen of the year by a group called Clean St. John's as part of its Golden Broom awards.

Harding was singled out for his commitment to keeping the city clean.

He is very disappointed the city has cut bulk garbage pickup in its new budget. 

"We do a lot to keep our St. John's and area clean here and I've lost quite a few volunteers to be quite honest," Harding said. 

"They feel they are being taken advantage of, to go out and spend so much time and effort to clean up the city when the city doesn't want to help clean it themselves."

Harding said that he is afraid that more garbage will end up on the roads and in wooded areas now that the city's program to collect bulk garbage and scrap metal has been cancelled. 

"I would hope that the city won't now turn around if there is an increase in garbage in the woods, which I and a lot of people firmly believe is going to happen, to see them spend a lot of money on cameras to try to catch people," he said. 

Harding said he hopes the city will do the right thing and reverse its decision.

Other alternatives to cancelling program

Clean St. John's executive director Karen Hickman said 3,200 households made use of the city's bulk garbage pickup last year. She is disappointed with the remaining options for dealing with large garbage items like hot water boilers, couches and tires. 

"I did contact someone at the city and they said, basically, people can drop [bulk garbage] off at the landfill at the regional waste facility, or hire someone to pick things up," Hickman said on CBC's St. John's Morning Show. 

She also expects to see more big trash items around the city, as not everyone has a truck to move bulk trash, or the money to hire someone to move it. 

Hickman said that St. John's spent $400,000 on bulk garbage collection last year, and cutting the program will provide a savings in the coming year, but she said there were other options. 

"The one thing that I was disappointed about really was the pickup was from April to September, and I thought, maybe if they'd shortened it, that would have been at least some alternative to help residents dispose of big items," she said.

Hickman said that even one pick-up per ward during the year would have been helpful.