Bin collections in Enfield look likely to be cut to once a fortnight – even though most residents who were consulted opposed the change.
Council officers have recommended changing the borough’s refuse and recycling collections to once every two weeks and introducing a £65-a-year charge for the fortnightly garden waste rounds.
The shake-up is the most drastic of the proposals made in a recent public consultation, which drew more than 5,500 responses – more than any other Enfield Council consultation.
It would make the biggest savings for the council – amounting to £7.5 million over five years – and would also see the roll-out of separate, weekly food waste collections, in line with the Mayor of London’s Environment Strategy.
The shake-up could boost the borough’s recycling rate to 49 per cent – up from 38 per cent under the current scheme.
But it was the least popular of the eight options presented to members of the public – backed by just 9 per cent of the consultation respondents.
Two-thirds of respondents (66 per cent) wanted to keep the current weekly collections.
Despite this, the report states: “It can generally be said that there was no strong majority for any of the proposals, 66 per cent of respondents preferred to retain the current collections with 46 per cent strongly agreeing and 20 per cent agreeing.”
Tory councillors called for weekly collections to stay during a debate at full council last Wednesday (January 30).
Cllr Lindsay Rawlings, Conservative member for Town ward, warned fortnightly collections could lead to a rise in fly-tipping and dirtier streets – particularly in the east of the borough.
But council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan said failing to save money on bin collections would mean having to make cuts to essential services such as adult social care.
Enfield Council needs to find £18 million of savings or increased income in 2019-20 and a further £12 million during the following year.
It has already had to save £178 million since 2010 due to government funding cuts.
Keeping collections as they are would cost the council an extra £520,000 a year due to the rising cost of processing waste.
The report states: “Feedback given during the consultation has been considered and proposed measures that would mitigate against these concerns have been addressed within this report.”
If the proposal is agreed, Enfield Council will plough £500,000 of the savings into cleaning streets and clearing up fly-tipping.
It will also hire two more recycling officers and two more enforcement officers.
Councillors will decide whether to agree the report’s recommendations at a cabinet meeting next Wednesday (February 13).
This article originally appeared on Enfield Independent.
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