The news has continued locally on the bin woes and you will have seen various statements and videos from Chris Watts (the Cabinet Member responsible).
There have been incorrect claims that they had to start food waste by the start of 2024 (this was changed by the Government to 2026) and that the new recycling lorries are not fit for purpose.
Following a meeting with the Corporate Director responsible for the Waste Services he confirmed to me that before ordering the new fleet (whilst the Conservative Group was in control of the council) advice was given to us by the same officers and directors telling us what the recycling figures were across the board, and they recommended the purchase of the new fleet based on that data. So, they have the fleet that they recommended, and we accepted their advice.
The current problems have been a matter of a poor choice of timing to roll out the new collections in the weeks leading up to Christmas and not putting in additional resource for cardboard (they knew based on Black Friday data this year that it was likely to be a pressure point). Labour say lessons will be learnt, but perhaps the first lesson is not to blame others for something you have taken on to manage for residents.
The bin staff are a great, hardworking team and I imagine the last thing they needed was to have to learn new routes, with new equipment and additional waste, at this time of year.
The blue bags were initially available from libraries but now we will need to order online at https://www.swindon.gov.uk/xfp/form/1107
One of my councillors, Dan Adams, proposed a motion to council on 18 January, which was to allow at least 48 hours for residents to report missed bin collections (it’s currently 24 hours) and I sincerely hope this is one that Labour can support. It’s a reasonable request given the current problems, where collections are often waiting for many days.
Finally, on flooding: Many residents and businesses experienced flooding in Storm Henk and the Government announced financial support which local authorities will administer in terms of applications.
Wilshire have already been promoting this for a week at the time of writing and I’ve contacted the Chief Executive at SBC to ask why we haven’t as there is a limited time for applications. There were also grants for flooding following Storm Babet which closed on 15 January but again not a word on the SBC website so residents & businesses will miss out.
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