Conservative councillors in Gedling have responded after they were accused of making ‘misleading’ claims were made in a campaign leaflet over council bin sizes.
Accusations that Gedling Borough Council were planning to reduce bin sizes were dismissed in a recent press release about the authority’s new recycling strategy.
But Conservative councillors have now hit back over the quote contained in the press release from Deputy Council Leader Michael Payne, which they called ‘disappointing’.
Cllr Mike Adams, the Conservative group leader on Gedling Borough Council, said: “During the recent Cavendish ward by-election we said that the Labour-run council were rolling out plans to reduce the size of our bins.
“The evidence for this is plain to see on Gedling Borough Council’s website, which currently states that for properties with one to three residents, they are entitled to a 180-litre bin. This is smaller than the 240-litre bin that you often see around the borough.
“We said throughout the campaign that plans to reduce the size of our bins from 240l to 180l were unfair, create disparities between neighbours and risk an increase in fly tipping.”
He added: “Like many Gedling Borough residents suffering from a smaller bin, I welcome the u-turn and the announcement that Gedling Borough Council will re-instate 240l bins for everyone.
“But it should be described as what it is: a change of heart. To dismiss what I’ve said as ‘misleading’ is plain wrong. It’s doubly wrong that this politically controversial statement has been put on the taxpayer-funded Gedling Borough Council website.”
Gedling MP Tom Randall said that he had recently been contacted by a number of residents complaining about the size of council bins.
The MP said: “I’ve had constituents contact me complaining that their 180l bin is too small for their young family.
“When I’ve contacted Gedling Borough Council, I’ve been told by council officers that the policy is that households with 1 – 3 residents are entitled to a 180L bin unless they have extra medical needs and that the entitlement of 60l per person has been calculated as sufficient capacity for an individual.
“If they’re now going to be entitled to a 240l bin, then it’s great that our campaign has been a success. If the Deputy Leader is genuinely disappointed that we have highlighted residents’ dissatisfaction with this change, why did he allow the reduction in bin size to go ahead in the first place?”
Gedling Borough Council chief executive, Mike Hill said: “The council always offer large bins to residents and where we have known there are 3 people or fewer in the property, we have offered them a 180 litre bin with the option for a larger bin, if they needed it.
“Due to the fact that households are limited in what they can put in their recycling bin under the current Nottinghamshire County Council recycling contract, we have had numerous requests from households wanting a large 240 litre waste bin and this has been reflected in the new draft policy.”
Deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne said: “It’s disappointing Conservative councillors are playing politics with people’s bin services.
“It’s also a real shame not a single Conservative Gedling Borough councillor took part in the council’s recent Scrutiny Working Group that discussed, scrutinised and considered the council’s approach to waste, recycling and bin collections. Every other political party, including independent councillors ensured they were represented on this important Scrutiny Working Group.
“The simple truth of the matter is our Labour administration has agreed every household in Gedling borough will have a 240 litre bin for both general waste and recycling as a standard minimum – the right decision, particularly in light of the fact more people continue to work at home as a consequence of the covid pandemic.
“We’ll also provide additional green recycling bins to households, where there is a proven need and additional glass collection boxes to those households who need them.”
Absolute nonsense, I raised the issue regarding the bin size, after my 240l bin broke and was replaced with the 180l bin. I approached the council, who stated that it is policy and that I could not do anything. Having read the policy, this confirmed the advice I was given, was correct, albeit unfair. Apparently, I did not meet the criteria, again as printed in the policy. This being the case, Labour have been extremely misleading by suggesting that reducing bins were never policy.
https://democracy.gedling.gov.uk/documents/s28575/GBC%20Waste%20Policy%2021-07-21%20Draft%20V0.4.pdf