Rugby Borough Council defends reduced green waste bin collections at Christmas

[dutchman]

Reduced green waste bin collections over Christmas have been slammed by borough councillors



Two collections will be suspended over the festive period – as is usual during December and January.

But Rugby Liberal Democrat councillors say the move is not fair to residents who chose to pay £40 a year to keep their green bins when a charge was introduced in February.

The last fortnightly green garden waste collections before Christmas will take place between December 4 and 15. Collections will restart between January 8 and 19.

Coun Marion Nash said: “Residents have paid for a regular collection and this is what they should receive.

“Many people take time off over the Christmas and New Year period and often use it to clean up their garden.

“Those, like me, who have concerns should be contacting Rugby Borough Council (RBC) to make their voices heard and ensure they get the full collection timetable that they have paid for.”

But RBC environment and public realm spokeswoman Coun Lisa Parker said subscribers to the service were made aware of the Christmas break from the very beginning.

She said: “Coun Nash has a short memory. The garden waste collection service has always been suspended for the Christmas period, even when the service was provided at no additional charge. This is because it has never been possible for us to provide the garden waste service as well as the black refuse and blue-lid recycling collection over Christmas.

“All subscribers to the garden waste service, including Coun Nash, were told that the service would be provided every fortnight apart from a short break at Christmas. This is part of the terms and conditions for the service, which are available online.

“The service will be suspended for just three weeks while we provide additional black refuse collections for residents who would otherwise miss out.

“The garden waste service has more than 22,000 subscribers who appreciate the convenience and value for money that the service provides.”

The £40 annual charge was introduced in February to save the council £800,000 in the face of a projected £3.8million government funding cut.

LibDem councillors tabled an unsuccessful motion which would have seen the service continue for another 12 months while its sustainability and longevity were considered.

Nearly half of all local authorities already charge or plan to charge for garden waste collection, which is not a service that councils are obliged to provide.