FURY OVER UNEMPTIED WASTE BIN
THE refusal by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to empty a waste bin in a busy tourist area has been described as a ‘ridiculous state of affairs.’
Kingsley Parish Council bought the bin, which is located next to the bus stop on the A52 road in Froghall, as the area attracts many walkers around Froghall Wharf, the canal and the Churnet Valley Railway.
The bin is used by the many tourists visiting the area and is full most weeks.
However, the district council waste company has refused to empty it.
Speaking at the last meeting, chairman of Kingsley Parish Council Ken Unwin said: “Kingsley Parish Council paid for this bin, but Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s waste company will not empty it.
“If our litter picker goes down to the site and puts the litter into a blue bag and puts it at the side of the road, they will stop and pick it up. This is an unsatisfactory situation.”
District and parish councillor James Aberley said: “This is one of the most used bins in the parish, but they will only take the full bag away.
“We are stuck in procedure. We either carry on as we are or we remove the bin as we are getting nowhere with it. We need to get an outcome.”
Councillor Martyn Hordern said: “People would be dumbfounded that the district council will not empty this bin, but if the rubbish is put in a bag they will take it. The waste truck goes right past the bin.
“It is a ridiculous state of affairs. We need to keep the pressure on as it is a nonsense.”
Meanwhile, the Moorlands council has also stopped emptying a large container bin in Kingsley cemetery, despite having a contract with the parish council.
Councillor Unwin said: “We have a commercial waste bin in Kingsley Cemetery and have a contract with Staffordshire Moorlands District to empty it, for which we pay them £402 a year.
“However, in September it was not emptied. When we contacted them we were told that they had changed their vehicles and could not get up the driveway. I am now at loss of what to do.”
Councillor David Fowler said that councillors now had to bring the bin to the main church access to get it emptied.
He said: “Staffordshire Moorlands District Council beggars belief. The men on the lorry have told me that they will fetch it from the area it is located and empty it, but their bosses at the council won’t let them.
“We have a contract with them and should go back telling them that their workmen are willing to collect the bin and empty it at the main access.
“It is a simple solution. Let’s go back to the district council and find a sensible person to have a site meeting with us.”
Councillor Ivor Lucas said: “This is not our problem about changing the wagon, they are not fulfilling their contract.”
The Post & Times contacted the Moorlands council about the issues at the two locations.
With regard to the Froghall waste bin, a spokesperson said: “The location at Froghall was monitored in Spring 2018 and did not meet the council’s criteria to warrant the installation of a bin at this site.
“The parish council has installed this bin at their own cost and has, more recently, sought assistance for its emptying. A resolution has now been achieved and emptying will be undertaken at a frequency suitable to the location.”
Regarding the contract at Kingsley cemetery, a spokesperson said: “Unfortunately we had to notify Kingsley PC that we could no longer collect their commercial waste bin from its historic location at the cemetery as our new collection vehicles were bottoming out on the steep drive used to access the premises.
“A number of alternative solutions were offered following a site visit – including the provision of three smaller bins offering the same capacity which crews would collect on bin day and return to their storage location, or that the current industrial sized bin be stored for collection at a new location.
“If no suitable solution can be agreed, then Kingsley Parish Council could terminate the collection contract enabling them to find an alternative service provider.”