Anger over bins not emptied for MONTH
RESIDENTS in a block of flats say they were left living with a ‘disgusting’ rubbish-strewn mess after their bins were not emptied for nearly a month.
Neville Mackay, 52, of
Priory Lane, Macclesfield, says the communal bins outside Greengates were left overflowing.
He claims the equivalent of the black bin collection was missed on November 7 but no council workers came back to empty it retrospectively.
This left residents’ waste piling up for a further fortnight until the bins were emptied on the next scheduled date - Thursday, November 21.
He said: “Everyone was up in arms. There was rubbish piled up and all we kept getting from the council was, ‘we’ll do it tomorrow’, but it never happened. A lot of old people live in the flats and they were panicking. We were seeing rats there and a fox had also been in them.
“It was overflowing and we were pretty fed up. One neighbour phoned the council every day to try and get the bins emptied.
“It was disgusting and not fair on the tenants.”
To add to the problem the communal equivalent of the silver bins was not emptied as scheduled on November 14.
Waste collectors also emptied these the following Thursday, by which time three weeks rubbish had built up.
East Cheshire Council introduced new collection schedules for most people in the borough beginning the week of Monday, November 4.
While some areas reported few, if any, problems, there were quite a number of residents who said their bins were left unemptied.
The council has said it is to increase efficiency by using fewer vehicles - reducing costs and emissions - and boost recycling.
The Macclesfield Express has asked for further comment regarding Greengates specifically.
Although none has been received the council has spoken about the first week of the new regime, when other collections were missed. A spokesman said extra visits would be scheduled to empty missed bins.
He added: All our residents were informed of the proposed changes with new calendars and bin stickers advising of the new timetables.
“We are sorry that this may have caused inconvenience to some residents but we are confident that households will quickly adapt to the changes.”
In a statement, Ralph Kemp, head of environmental services at the council, added: “The recent bin collection service alterations are our biggest change in a ten year period and has involved changing routes, staff rotas and resident collection days.
“These changes have been necessary to achieve long term efficiencies and to prepare for the new food waste recycling service that is being introduced in January. I’d like to thank residents for their patience during these changes.”