Residents still in the dark over bin collections

West Berkshire Council said it is waiting on information from the Government over the funding of bin collections

RESIDENTS are no closer to knowing what kind of bin collection they will receive in the future as West Berkshire Council says it is waiting on information from the Government.

The council said this week that it was still in the dark over Government proposals to fund weekly bin collections just weeks after the council decided to move to fortnightly collections.

Two weeks ago, Communities secretary Eric Pickles announced funding of £250m would be given to local councils to retain or reintroduce weekly bin collections.

The annoucement came just days after West Berkshire Council revealed on September 19 that a new fortnightly waste collection rota would be introduced with each household receiving kitchen caddies for food waste.

Public relations manager at West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt said this week that the council was still to receive details of the Government's proposals and would not make a decision on whether to stand by its change to fortnightly bin collections until it has.

Newbury Labour Party activist Richard Garvie has asked for a full public consultation into bin collections when the council receives this information and attacked the council for not consulting the public over the controversial change.

He said: “I support fortnightly collections but I'm not sure that the proposals from West Berkshire are as effective as they could be.”

In response, Mr Ulyatt said: “The council cannot consult on every decision it makes. Local residents elect members to run the council and that is what we are delivering on.”