Labour accused of turning waste uplift row to political gain

ELECTION: Party in Fife pledges to ditch four-weekly bin collections

Labour in Fife has made a surprise pledge to ditch four-weekly bin collections in its local election manifesto.

It follows a successful pilot project in Glenrothes, where the move was shown to increase recycling rates and reduce landfill.

There was mounting speculation the trial in Thornton and Stenton would lead to the scheme being rolled out, despite Fife Council maintaining no decisions had been taken.

But Fife Labour leader David Ross said there had been “deep rooted public hostility” to the plans and they would not be taken forward.

With the local elections just days away, Labour was accused of using the issue for political gain.

The local SNP group said Labour was “willing to promise anything to chase a headline”.

And Fife Liberal Democrat leader Tim Brett said the outcome of the trial, where blue landfill bins were emptied once every four weeks, should have been discussed at committee.

“I’m disappointed by this because these proposals had not been shared with other parties,” Mr Brett said.

“David is using this to try to gain political advantage, but it is important that all groups have a proper discussion about it.”

Dave Dempsey, who leads the Conservatives in Fife, said if Mr Ross had based his decision on feedback from the pilot not seen by other councillors “that should not have happened”.

He added: “We want to increase recycling and we want to do it in a way that the public is happy with.

“Labour has a track record of doing things to people rather than with them.”

As part of the trial, three-weekly bin collections were trialled in Markinch and Coaltown of Balgonie.

A total of 4,000 households were included in the pilot, which drew six formal complaints.

Mr Ross said, “There is deep rooted public hostility to this approach and it just won’t work if it isn’t accepted by the public.

“Yes, we want to drive up recycling rates, but we need to convince people it’s the right thing to do, not impose something on them that they have real concerns about.”

Depute SNP group leader Karen Marjoram said: “Fife Labour are clearly willing to promise anything to chase a headline, given they don’t have enough candidates to form an administration to honour those commitments.”

David is using this to try to gain political advantage, but it is important that all groups have a proper discussion about it. TIM BRETT