Spalding council tax payer asks: 'Why am I still waiting for my wheelie bin'?

A frustrated Spalding council tax payer has described his two-month wait to join the area's garden waste scheme.

Jeffrey Newman, of St Andrew's Road, Spalding, is yet to receive the brown wheelie bin he asked for in May, despite assurances that it would be delivered by June 14.

South Holland District Council, which launched the scheme in April 2016, told Mr Newman that he was on a "waiting list" that would be worked through as soon as possible.

But despite several phone calls and visits to the council's offices in Spalding, Mr Newman is still waiting to join the scheme which undertakes to deliver wheelie bins to households "within ten working days of a successful application", according to the council's website.

Mr Newman, a retired retail manager, said: "When the council first brought in the garden waste scheme a couple of years ago, I decided to go with the black bags as it was a cheaper option.

"I paid £15 for ten sacks, plus a £5 delivery charge.

"But when the black bags were replaced by purple ones, which would disintegrate if you put them out overnight and it rained, I thought that I might as well pay a bit more and have a wheelie bin.

"I first approached the council about having a wheelie bin in March when I was told that it had ran out of them.

"Then I asked again in May when the council said that it had brought in a new vehicle which could do another round of waste collections.

"The first date we were given for delivery of the wheelie bin was June 14 and I told the council that I'd be happy to wait until then.

"But nobody contacted me and so I got back in touch with the council which was when they said that my name was on the waiting list but they were running a bit behind."

Mr Newman confirmed that he continued to chase the council up for details about when the wheelie bin would eventually be delivered and was told "you've not been forgotten".

But he said: "I was told that there were an awful lot of people waiting for the wheelie bins.

"But I can't see why on earth it's taking so long to sort it out.

"Whether I go up to the council offices in person or phone them up, it doesn't seem to be producing any results.

"You would think that the council would want this matter to be resolved as soon as possible because a lot of people are prepared to pay for the wheelie bins and the council is losing potential revenue."

A South Holland District Council spokesman apologised to Mr Newman for the delay and confirmed that a wheelie bin would be delivered to him "as soon as possible".