A bin too far?
In the Express article (July 13) headed “Bin changes will improve recycling”,Councillor Cathy McEwan, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s infrastructure land and environment board, offers no evidence whatsoever that the people Renfrewshire will support cuts to grey bin collections.
The main reason for this is of course that there has been no public consultation from the SNP administration on the changes planned for the autumn,nor any attempt to address widespread legitimate public concerns.
Notwithstanding the fact the provision of a new free green wheelie bin for every household will cost council tax payers £1.3 million with absolutely no guarantee that this will be recouped,it is the individual problems of where to accommodate yet another bin, and the implications of reduced grey bin waste collections to three times a week that have been ignored.
The recent heatwave and problems in some areas with bin collections,have increased concerns at the prospect of soiled nappies and dog poo bags and similar waste remaining uncollected for three weeks or longer.
Part of the solution would be to make the necessary arrangements for recycling ,but keep to the current collection schedule.
It is not too late to put these proposed changes on hold and to have a public consultation.
Unless this happens and the proposals go through, the public will rightly conclude it has been misled.
During last year’s council election campaign the SNP promised to “clean up Renfrewshire,”which they now claim is their flagship policy.
Quite how this stacks up with the prospect of grey bin rubbish being on the streets for longer is anyone’s guess.
The people of Renfrewshire were asked by the SNP to trust them to clean up Renfrewshire.
Should the cuts to grey bin collections go ahead, it will mean that this trust will have been breached. Councillor Derek Bibby Labour Johnstone North Kilbarchan Howwood and Lochwinnoch