More green bin misery for residents
PEOPLE in Stockport have been told to expect their green bin collections to be disrupted for another ‘two to three weeks’ due to the continuing impact of Covid on refuse crews.
Coronavirus-related absences meant residents missed their food and garden waste collections earlier this month, but it was hoped the situation would be relatively short-lived.
However, the council now expects problems to continue until at least the end of June because of the number of staff who are either ill or self-isolating.
In a message to residents on Monday, the authority said it was doing ‘everything we can to improve the situation’ and would try to empty bins that had been missed next week.
Green bins collections were stopped altogether at the beginning of the pandemic before a fortnightly service was restored.
The usual weekly collection returned from the end of March this year - but has again been derailed due to Covid hitting staff at contractors Totally Local Company (TLC).
Councillor Sheila Bailey, cabinet member for ‘Sustainable Stockport’ was questioned about the ongoing problems at a scrutiny committee meeting on Monday night.
Committee chair Coun Mark Roberts - whose Lib Dem group has been critical of the Labour administration’s handling of the situation - asked what work was being done to improve the ‘resolve and resistance within the service.’
Coun Bailey said while the pandemic had taught her to ‘never say never again’, steps were being taken to ensure TLC would be better prepared and more flexible in future.
She said: “There are two aspects to this: One, to deal with the immediate problem and to get over this particular issue of staff who are either ill themselves or selfisolating and to get the service back on to an even keel as soon as it safe to do so and there is the capacity to do so.
“That’s the short term and I think there are several lessons that have already been taken on board.”
She continued: “Discussions are ongoing at the moment in order for a plan to be drawn up that not only will increase the resilience of TLC and its workforce but put the company in a far better position to be able to deal with the situation should anything remotely the same as we have just gone through happen again.”
Coun Bailey also told the meeting that the issue of resources was currently being addressed.
“We will see that extra resources are being made available,” she said.
“Agency staff are being brought in. Staff from other sections of TLC are being moved to the collection service - and these are things that can be done as a one-off in a short-term situation.
“For TLC to have the resilience to be able to deal with emergencies such as these, and on this kind of scale, there needs to be a plan.”
Coun Bailey added that the council and TLC were currently drawing up proposals that would leave the service ‘in a far better place’ and more able to deal with unexpected and emergency situations.
“They will no doubt be brought forward at some point in the near future,” she said.
“Not only has TLC to deal with the situation of Covid but our housebuilding is increasing and every house that is built has four bins. Therefore the amount of capacity within TLC to continue to provide adequate services will be part of those discussions.”
For further information or to report a missed bin collection visit https:// www.stockport.gov.uk/ topic/bins-and-recycling