‘Wheelie bin blight’ marring Britain’s streets targeted in crackdown

Complicated recycling rules have left Britain’s streets cluttered with wheelie bins – Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images

Planning laws in beauty spots are to be relaxed under government plans to tackle the nation’s “bin blight”.

The Government is consulting on allowing homeowners in conservation areas and national parks to build stores in their front gardens without planning permission, amid concerns wheelie bins are increasingly littering streets.

Under the current rules households are not allowed to erect bin or bike stores in their front gardens without the permission of the local authority.

The rules apply in conservation areas, areas of outstanding natural beauty, national parks and world heritage sites.

They particularly affect houses without a rear garden or with limited rear access, such as terraced houses.

In a consultation launched by Michael Gove’s Levelling Up Department, it said: “This can lead to bin blight with wheelie bins dominating front gardens and impacting on the local amenity of residential streets. We are proposing to allow bin and bike stores in front gardens under this permitted development right.”

Britain’s streets have become increasingly cluttered up with wheelie bins due to complicated recycling rules, overcrowded cities and more recently bin collection strikes.

In Bristol suburb Clifton, residents have been forced to separate their rubbish into 13 different bags under the council’s strict recycling rules, with waste containers and bags piling up residential streets.

There was outrage in the New Forest in 2022 when wheelie wins were introduced as part of efforts to improve recycling rates, with councillors warning they would clutter up villages.

Sarah Lee, of the Countryside Alliance, said the organisation welcomed the changes, saying they would improve the amenity of local areas and create better access for people walking down pavements.

“We must all do our bit in disposing of our waste appropriately but for years, poorly positioned wheelie bins and the abundance of multiple bins have marred many streets and communities,” she said.

“Unsightly bin clutter has detracted from the beauty of the surroundings and the aesthetics of people’s homes and gardens so it is time that we made our communities cleaner.”

The government proposals suggest such bin and bike stores can only be built in front gardens if they are below two metres in width, one metre in depth and one and half metres in height, in order to minimise their visual aspect.

The plans emerged as part of a wider consultation into permitted development rights, which propose allowing households to more easily extend their homes without applying for planning permission. The Government is also seeking views on how to speed up the approval process.

In September 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped plans for households to use seven rubbish and recycling bins in an overhaul of green policies.

Councils had warned the “seven bins” plans could prove costly and lead to a drop in recycling rates.

The Government has since announced a new plan to simplify recycling, with the same materials recycled across England without households having to separate plastic, glass and cardboard at home. Recycling will be standardised from 2026 under these plans.

Announcing the reforms in October, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “We have listened to councils and come up with a system that will increase recycling in a way that does not clutter our pavements with numerous bins and smelly food waste collections for weeks, making recycling simpler and more effective.”

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