TEIGNMOUTH'S newest political group has been accussed of recycling a bin issue wheeled out earlier this year by another party. Lib Dem county councillor Chris Bray balloted residents in Grove Avenue, Teignmouth, this winter about a hard-standing for their wheelie bins. He leafleted households with a questionnaire about a hard-standing and shrub screening instead of the present makeshift storage area. He also followed up with results in the campaign. Now, residents are being leafleted again by the Alliance of Independents on the same issue. They want to erect a five-foot high wooden screen and a border of shrubs to screen the 'unsightly gathering of wheelie bins'. They estimate the cost of materials at about £160. Cllr Bray said that he had undergone months of hard work on the project that will cost about £1,800 and will be a partnership between the county, district and town council. He said there is 'no way,' that the project could be rolled out at cut price. 'As a project undertaken by a public body, the quality has to be of the highest standard relative to its cost. 'The job could not be done at the sort of figure the Alliance is quoting,' he said. He said that the £900 contribution from county council funds had been made available and it was a matter of 'firming-up,' funding from the district authority. In a leaflet to Grove Avenue residents, the Teignmouth Alliance state: 'It is only fair that you should have your neighbourhood made more attractive immediately. Bins and the placing of them is a problem all over our town and we are dealing with this problem now.' But Cllr Bray said that the Alliance needs to come up with its own ideas. 'I was surprised and slightly annoyed that an idea I had worked up and was almost ready for the off should be stolen. I do feel that they are using other people's ideas rather than coming up with their own,' he said. Teignmouth Alliance member and town councillor Chris Whitlock said that he first brought up the issue at the town council last year. 'I asked a question about it last year and brought it up again this year. 'We put the leaflets out because it was taking so long for anything to get done. 'We came up with costings excluding labour, and it was so low that we thought we could do this ourselves. We just want to see it done to tidy up this entrance into Teignmouth,' he said.
