Surrey council votes to keep donation bins despite safety concerns

Surrey council has voted 5-4 to keep clothing donation bins open.

READ MORE: Push to remove donation bins in B.C. gains steam following latest death

This comes despite a number of B.C. cities decided to remove the bins or order them locked, after several deaths including one in West Vancouver in December, and another in Surrey three years ago.

Coun. Brenda Locke put forward the motion to get rid of the bins, calling them death traps.

“I certainly assumed that the majority of council would have absolutely voted to get rid of the bins. It is a horrific long protracted death for those people who are trapped in a clothing bin.”

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Three councillors voted with Locke, but the other five on council voted against, including Coun. Allison Patton.

She says charities benefit from the donations, and the design of the bins is changing.

“I definitely don’t want anyone dying in the bins. We’re always trying to manage risks and I think that shows a lot of serious action on each person’s part to make them as safe as possible.”

READ MORE: UBC Okanagan students design safer clothing donation bins

Since 2015, eight people across the country have died when becoming stuck in donation bins, and a major Canadian manufacturer has announced it would stop making them until safety concerns are sorted out.