Tory councillor launches attack on Cheltenham Borough Council's waste collection service
A STINGING attack has been launched against Cheltenham Borough Council's waste and recycling collection service by a Tory councillor.
Councillor Andy Wall (C, Battledown) has hit out at the "barmy" service, which has left home owners with "half a dozen" bins and boxes for different types of rubbish piled up outside their door.
-
annoyed: Councillor Andy Wall, right, who has criticised all the waste collection and recycling bins and bags needed, with fellow councillor Paul McLain
The authority's policy on side waste bags has also drawn the ire of Mr Wall. He believes the council's decision to charge people for special coloured bags so that they can put out additional rubbish to be collected is "yet another way of scamming Cheltenham residents into paying extra for services that most people think is what the council tax is for".
The council refuted his claims.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
Mr Wall said he was cross that the council had many brown garden waste bins in storage because subscription to the service was below what the council had planned for.
He said: "Every year for the last few years there has been another 'new' bin collection or recycling scheme. Every time we are told we've got to follow a new set of rules or else.
"It's the council's way and that's that. It is all stick and no carrot." Mr Wall said he had raised fears over the garden waste collection service in 2008 and he believed his worries were founded.
Scott Williams, strategic client officer at the borough council, defended the number of bins and boxes offered in the service. "When we set the scheme up we did consider the variety of different households we have across the borough and have made provisions for them," he said. He pointed to the communal bins for flats and garden sack service for people with small gardens as examples of how the service was being tailored to meet different needs. Mr Williams also said the new side waste bags were designed for "occasional situations" and the council did "not planning on them being used on a regular basis".
3 Comments
by Bonkim2003
Friday, March 15 2013, 5:44PM
“The misguided multi-bin barmy Cheltenham waste collections are not dissimilar to those initiated by Conservative controlled councils within Glos CC and now a millstone - high cost/low environmental benefit given the equally mixed up progress on the disposal systems proposed by the county council - totally disjointed collection, and treatment systems.
Scrap the lot and develop a weekly simple comingled/single stream bin or bagged collection, a central material recovery facility and energy from waste plant - see how costs come down, recycling geared to market prices, and energy from waste offsetting fossil fuels, and overall lowest carbon footprint.
Stop collecting garden started to increase material collected and perversely claim high recycling rates; food waste collection - high cost, inefficient, and needing high cost in-vessel composting - no favour to the environment..”
by AndyPrestbury
Friday, March 15 2013, 11:32AM
“At least with the old green bag system for garden waste when you didn't have any waste, or over the months that there were not any collections, you could easily store it away. With the new brown bins you have another plastic monster using up even more space, hence why I didn't want to take up the new service.”
by elgoog
Friday, March 15 2013, 9:59AM
“"Scott Williams, strategic client officer at the borough council". What on earth does a "strategic client officer" do when he is not dreaming up new waste collection arrangements. It looks as though there is room for more thinning out.”