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FRIDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2007 EVENING STANDARD
The £18,000 bomb-proof litter bins Dual purpose: an artist’s impression of the Renew bin with an LCD screen that could give out information in an emergency
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complete with TV screens on the sides
IT is a bin unlike any other — but it could provide a solution to security concerns, help increase recycling and keep commuters up to date with breaking news, weather and delays on the Tube. It could also end the frustrating search for somewhere to dispose of rubbish in a city that now offers terrorists as few opportunities as possible to plant a bomb. The Renew bin, which costs £15,000 to produce and £3,000 to install, has been designed to withstand the force of a bomb blast so it can be used in sensitive areas such as Tube stations and airports. During the five-year design and testing period, prototypes with steel casing were blown up in the New Mexico desert. The plastic surround is made from recycled materials and has an LCD screen on which news, weather and sports reports can be shown. Each unit is big enough to contain a typical household wheelie bin — to make it easy for binmen to collect and empty. During an emergency such as the 7/7 attacks, the screen’s content could be changed within minutes to direct Lon-
INSIDE CITY HALL ROW OF THE WEEK Brian Coleman v Murad Qureshi IN September, 38,000 people took to their bikes for the Hovis Freewheel event that saw roads throughout central London closed. Mayor Ken wants to repeat it next year — and asked the Assembly to approve the reappointment of a £40,000-a-year events manager. But Tory deputy chairman Coleman used his casting vote to block the move, recalling that Ken paid Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq £4,750 to attend a press conference at which he criticised Coleman’s £10,000 taxi bill. The BBC later apologised to Coleman for Huq’s appearance at the “political rant”. Labour member Qureshi said Coleman’s stance ran counter to the pro-cycling policy of Tory mayoral candidate Boris Johnson. “This only goes to show that the Tories’ green gestures are just that,” he added.
Score: Coleman 1 Qureshi
ROSS LYDALL City Hall Editor doners away from certain areas or Tube stations. The bins are the work of entrepreneurs Kaveh Memari and Brian James, who met in Canada and studied at the London School of Economics before setting up a company, Media Metrica. They plan to offer the bins, which they prefer to call “recycling units”, free to London local authorities and recoup the cost via sponsorship from firms keen to emphasise their corporate social responsibility — London currently recycles only 25 per cent of its waste. Discussions with at least one council are said to be at an “advanced” stage. Mr James said: “The UK needs to improve its performance on recycling. “We recognised that in a post-7/7 world we needed to deliver a sustainable and secure solution that didn’t cost anything to the public purse.”
FOR MORE INFO 왘 www.renewsolution.com
LONDON WHISPERS ■ BORIS JOHNSON panicked his spin doctors by expressing a love of pigeons. He can name 1 types but, fearing lost votes, vowed “drastic action” to ensure the “aerial vermin” are “exterminated”. ■ BORIS has vowed to reform the C-charge. His barrister wife, Marina Wheeler, was part of the Westminster team that once tried to have it thrown out by the High Court,
claiming the Mayor failed to consult or hold a public inquiry. She lost. ■ REDBRIDGE Labour councillor Balvinder Saund has been chosen to take on Tory Roger Evans in next year’s Assembly elections. Evans said: “I made a point of congratulating her. Her reply — ‘who are you?’ — was either the best putdown in history or reveals a steep learning curve.”
UPS & DOWNS Going places: Rob Holden — Channel Tunnel rail link boss will see the Queen open high-speed line to St Pancras next week.
Out of sorts: Joy Johnson — spin doctor sees Tube “fares freeze” row overshadow launch of Mayor’s skills strategy.
... and next week QUOTE OF THE DAY
‘He’s the one with the dangly bits’ KEN LIVINGSTONE EXPLAINS HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON ★
■ THE next statue on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth, Hotel For The Birds, is unveiled after Mayor Ken rescued the project with an extra £153,000 of public funds.
HAVE YOU ANY CITY HALL GOSSIP? 왘 cityhall@standard.co.uk