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Secret Peterborough location of sharps bin
A SPECIAL bin designed for drug users to deposit their needles and syringes has been placed in Peterborough - but council officials refuse to say where.
A SPECIAL bin designed for drug users to deposit their needles and syringes has been placed in Peterborough - but council officials refuse to say where.After more than two years of planning the Safe Sharps Disposal project, the city's Safer Peterborough Partnership has positioned the 1,330 bin, which is 45cms wide and 84cms high, in a secret location.
And a further seven bins, which are designed to encourage people to dispose of injecting equipment and other sharp objects safely, reducing the risk of injury and transmission of blood borne viruses, will be placed in other "hotspots", which have been identified using up-to-date data of drug related litter, by November 26.
However, speaking at a Scrutiny Commission for Health Issues meeting at the town hall on Tuesday, Peterborough City Council neighbourhood manager, Leonie McCarthy, who is spearheading the scheme, said they would not be releasing the locations of the bins for fear local residents would target drug users or the neighbourhoods would be labelled "drug hotspots".
She said: "Drug users are often people who are scrutinised in their communities and we want them to be encouraged to use these bins.
"There are concerns that if these bins are publicised, the users of these bins will be labelled as "druggies".
"These bins reduce the risk of members of the community coming into contact with needles and syringes.
"The bins are not just for heavy drug users but for diabetics and other people who don't want their husbands and wives to know they take drugs but also want to dispose of their drug paraphernalia correctly and safely."
Committee member councillor Yvonne Lowndes said: "It is a matter of public safety for the community that we are not revealing the locations of these bins."
However, Cllr Diane Lamb said there was "too much secrecy" behind the scheme.
The Evening Telegraph reported in August 2007 how the stainless steel receptacles were being introduced as part of a six-month pilot scheme aimed at cutting down on the number of needles carelessly discarded.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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