TCI commentary:
It’s good to see a Council making use of its consultation to formulate a more acceptable policy. Too many of the articles in the media each week feature Councils or NHS Trusts being criticised for not listening seriously. In reality, we think there are far more stories like this – where the involvement of the public can help decision-makers reach for a more consensual outcome. Bin collections often attract more consultees than other, lower-profile Council services, but this was a good consultation – and Central Bedfordshire have produced a genuine best practice case study.
Article:
The council consulted on possible changes to bin collections between 26 February and 20 April 2018. Over 15,000 people responded to the consultation, which is a huge response.
The council has considered the feedback and have decided to make changes to bin collections in line with residents’ views.
Residents were overwhelmingly supportive of recycling more and the majority also supported saving money in the service.
As a result, we will be introducing weekly food waste collections for everyone and potential kerbside glass collections for all. These are in addition to the fortnightly recycling collection residents already get.
We have discarded the idea of charging for garden waste, as this was the least favoured option. Instead we will continue to provide a free fortnightly collection as we do now. Residents did ask for more flexibility in the service though. So, we will be offering residents a choice of a wheelie bin or two reusable bags for garden waste collections.
In terms of three-weekly black bin collections, we know residents had some concerns about managing this change at this point. We’ve listened and we won’t be introducing three-weekly collections immediately. We will work with residents to recycle as much as possible, and the new services should help with this. This will reduce the amount of waste going into black bins. That means that we may be able to move to a three-weekly collection at a later date, which will reduce the cost of the service and make the most of tax payers’ money.
The new contract for bin collections would start in the Autumn 2019.
Article originally appeared on Central Bedfordshire Council
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