Bin Fiasco – “No more tweaking” is hollow
promise
The worst days of
bin fiasco may be over, but Labour’s promise of “no more tweaking” rings hollow
after 13 weeks of chaos.
Earlier this
summer, Labour-run Thurrock Council made changes to bin collections. Despite
being billed as “Same Service, Different Day”, the result was a complete fiasco,
with residents not told when their bins would be collected; many residents
seeing their collection day changed several times; and thousands of bins missed
every week at the peak of disruption.
Conservative
Environment spokesman Cllr Simon Wootton said “After presiding over this fiasco,
I am not sure residents will have much faith when Labour says no more tweaks.
There are still many bins missed each week and the claimed collection rate of
98% is lower than before the changes
were made, and 'operational difficulties' continue to be the main reasons given
for missed collections suggesting a lack of confidence in the service. I will be
working to ensure that the service provided is to the standard Thurrock
residents pay for and rightly deserve.
“The question that
now remains is, how much did it cost to sort this fiasco out? We know lots of
overtime was paid for Saturday working, and staff were brought in from other
roles to help out too. We need to know precisely how much taxpayers’ money this
cost – I will not allow Labour to hide behind claims to have been able to pay
for it out of a ‘contingency’ fund.
“Above all, I look forward to the council’s planned evaluation of these changes, and finding out exactly what went wrong. We must not allow the council to cause a mess like this again.”
