Rutland County Council backtracks on black bin cuts

Proposals to collect black bins every three weeks have been scrapped.

Rutland County Council announced in November that, without more funding, cutting collections of general waste would be the only solution to meet the demands of a new food waste scheme.

From next year councils across the country must collect food waste caddies each week from the kerbside, a change which will involve purchasing new vehicles and a shift of the existing collection rota.

But following a number of concerns, the council has assured residents it will continue to collect black general waste bins and brown recycling bins on alternate weeks.

LincsOnline reader Stephen Marsh had described the proposals as ‘a ridiculous idea’ while Adrian Hill voiced concerns about the rubbish attracting rats.

Russell Bradberry added: “A family of four will fill a bin in about a week so unless the council is going to supply commercial bins it will lead to more fly tipping.”

Among those opposing the plans was MP for Rutland and Stamford Alicia Kearns (Con), whose petition calling for the fortnightly collections to be saved garnered 2,248 signatures.

However she was told by the council’s democratic services manager Tom Delaney it is now ‘not considered appropriate or relevant’ for the petition to be debated as there are no decisions on waste services scheduled in the council’s forward plan.

Mrs Kearns said: “It is an enormous relief and victory for residents that Rutland County Council is no longer considering moving our black bin collections to only once every three weeks.

“Our petition with over 2,200 signatures demonstrated the community’s opposition to these proposals, yet in an extraordinary move the council has dismissed residents, claiming our petition is ‘considered inappropriate and not relevant to council decision-making’ and refusing the debate the petition warrants based on the council’s own constitution.

“Black bin collections is exactly the council’s job and it was most certainly under consideration.”

A council spokesperson says since plans were revealed in November, the authority has seen ongoing cost savings in its budget.

This includes residents reducing their waste tonnage and increasing their recycling rates as well as a reduction in gate fees.

The spokesperson added: “These savings are likely to fluctuate, however we are confident at this point that if they continue that they would be significant enough to mitigate the financial concerns we had last year.

“We have therefore at budget process approved smaller black bins to be part of the capital programme, however it is extremely important to highlight that no decision has yet been made and these bins have not yet been purchased.

“There is currently no report on the introduction of food waste on our forward plan in which it would then be appropriate for Cabinet to debate the petition.

“We expect a report on the food waste introduction options to be taken to council in the next financial year when new burden funding and the full financial position of the council is known.”

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