End of free "Special Uplifts" - a backwards step?

Many Edinburgers are no doubt unaware that as of April 2010 the council no longer offers a free annual special uplift to every household. All Special Uplifts are now charged at a minimum of £19.99.

While I understand that the council is operating under budgetary contraints I see this move as completely counter-productive. Yes it's true that if you if you are a car-owner and can fit such items in your car you can transport them yourself to the Seafield recycling centre and dispose of them at no charge. But how does this encouragement of unnecessary car journeys tally with the council's Sustainable Transport Plan?

In any case, far too many people are far too lazy to do this. They know fine well that if they simply dump their larger waste items on the street, the council will eventually collect them anyway. Meanwhile we have unslightly piles of old TVs, large cardboard boxes, unwanted sofas etc rotting on our streets for weeks at a time until they get collected.

Is this all in line with the council's much vaunted "Edenburgh" campaign? Is it in any way a desirable situation? I believe the answer is no.