Why no consultation?

Dear Editor

The people of

Stirling have made their opposition to the cuts in their bins collections and charges for garden waste abundantly clear. This is hardly surprising, given the huge number of questions about how the plans would work in practice, and why they are even necessary.

Amongst the many complaints one recurring theme which stands out is why those that use the service were not asked about the plans first. Had this happened, there would have been an opportunity to change the proposals based on the public’s feedback.

The council’s website states that it is“committed to improving the way it engages with residents”. So what happened here? In the past the council thought it worth carrying out consultations about polling districts, taxi licences, and even its archive strategy but the bin collections, which every resident uses, was not important enough?

Plans about how waste is collected should be made through engagement with the public. As a result of the administration’s failure to do this we are left facing a collection service which very few people want, or even understand why it would be desirable. The failure to engage with people has badly damaged the reputation of Stirling Council

We are now being told that after the decision was taken there will now be “communication and engagement” with the public. I would strongly urge the SNP/Labour administration to use this opportunity to listen to what the public have to say and be prepared to alter what they pushed through.

Councillor Ross Oxburgh

Stirling Council