Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Garden waste bin delays ‘a shambles’
RESIDENTS are having to do the “hokey cokey” with their bins because of missed collections, it has been claimed.
Exasperated residents in Kirkton have experienced six weeks of delays to their fortnightly collections of garden waste.
Dundee City Council has told residents it is dealing with an “exceptional amount” of green waste as it tries to cope with the demand.
Delays in the collection of brown bins are being blamed on a spate of prolonged good weather.
Kevin Keenan, a councillor for the area, said the service wasn’t good enough – labelling it a “shambles”.
He said: “I think the public could accept the excuses initially but it’s time to get this right. I’ve been experiencing a high volume of emails and calls regarding complaints about the services.
“The public pay their council tax and expect the bins to get emptied.
“You used to have the issues with tenements having multiple wheelie bins out on the street. At the moment it is turning into a city-wide issue.
“People are doing the hokey cokey with their bins.”
Resident Raymond Dunsmuir, 51, said this was the “worst disruption” he had seen to the waste collection service since moving back to the area in 1996.
He said: “I contacted the council last Friday and they said the collection was running late.
“We never had any issues like this before the changes – it’s just been a shambles.
“The grass and other garden waste is going mulchy and creating a smell.
“As far as I’m concerned the delays in collections are down to cutbacks in the staffing levels.
“I feel sorry for the team members who are getting over-stretched with the work they are doing.”
Another resident said he believed that although council tax is going up, the service is getting worse.
He said: “The area is stinking at the moment because the waste hasn’t been uplifted.
“The reason for this has to be as a result of cutbacks.
“I honestly feel the council tax keeps going up and the service is going in the opposite direction.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said the local authority is dealing with an “exceptional” amount of green waste this year resulting from a wet spring followed by a sustained period of warm weather.
He said: “There was a near-40% rise in green waste delivered to the Riverside composting site in May compared to the same period last year.
“We are dealing with a situation where many homes in Dundee have multiple brown bins.
“Additional resources are being deployed to catch up with collections. In the meantime residents are asked to leave bins out and they will be uplifted.”