Council slashes black bin collections to just once every three weeks despite pleas from locals

Flintshire’s Labour-led Cabinet met yesterday after initially recommending to approve proposals to collect general waste once a month rather than fortnightly.

The suggestion of a monthly service prompted outrage, with more than 2,700 people signing a petition against the move.

Council leader Ian Roberts suggested a three-week alternative after officials warned the local authority could face a fine of more than £1.2million for failing to meet Cardiff Bay’s recycling targets.

However, five former Labour councillors quit the party in May after condemning the proposal.

In a statement, members of the Flintshire People’s Voice group said: “Flintshire People’s Voice (FPV) strongly condemns the cabinet’s decision to end fortnightly bin collections and your FPV councillors will resist this relentlessly.

“We do not believe that this is the only way, or the best way, to save necessary money and have set out alternatives.

“The people of Flintshire do not want less frequent bin collections. They do not need to happen. Flintshire People’s Voice will listen to them.

“The cabinet’s attempt to blame ordinary residents for this, instead of looking at their own mismanagement, is reprehensible and they should apologise to the people of Flintshire.”

• School serves 'Halal only' lunches as local council faces demands for urgent answers
• Cancer patient prosecuted for missing BBC licence fee payment while in hospital for surgery
• Tui passengers devastated as plane turns back because airport was closed

The council’s cabinet believed a monthly collection service would have boosted the county’s recycling rate from just under 63 per cent to almost 69 per cent.

It would have fallen just short of the new 70 per cent goal and resulted in cost savings of around £770,000.

The three-week plan would have lifted recycling rates to 66 per cent and saved approximately £650,000.

Liberal Democrat councillor David Coggins Cogan, who sits on the authority’s environment scrutiny committee, said: “Moving to a three-weekly black bin collection punishes residents who do recycle and does nothing to encourage those who don’t.

“This is classic Labour, directing from the top and not listening to the concerns of residents on the ground.

“The committee spent a long time discussing this option. I proposed the motion to abandon the monthly and three-weekly collections, which was unanimously backed.

“Cabinet has completely ignored our concerns and the concerns of the residents we represent.”

In response to the outrage, Cabinet Member Cllr Dave Hughes said: “After listening to feedback from our communities, cabinet has decided the best option moving forward is to introduce a three-weekly bin collection.

“This will allow us to move closer to Welsh Government’s 70 per cent recycling target while still providing a high-quality service to residents.

“Households are already fully equipped with the tools to make a big difference when it comes to recycling, and many residents are doing all they can.

“The transition to a new waste collection model should have minimal impact on residents if they fully utilise the weekly recycling and food waste collection services already provided.”