Let’s cut the council some slack

BINS. It’s a dirty word in Argyll and Bute.

There have been countless complaints in recent times about the waste collection service, especially with the move to three-weekly uplifts of general rubbish.

The council’s defence is that we must try to send less to landfill because it’s prohibitively expensive to do so and we all need to recycle more.

I’m well aware of that but still agree with the critics who say having general waste bins emptied only every three weeks is not enough. Encouraging better recycling is admirable and would reduce the landfill burden but I still believe we should return to fortnightly collections. However, matters were made worse a few weeks ago after bins weren’t emptied in a number of areas because of problems with the council’s fleet of vehicles.

Then, as we report this week, there have been even more moans after garbage was scattered about the Soroba area when full wheelie bins were blown over by gusting winds after they would previously have been emptied.

I understand fully residents’ frustrations over waste collections but, in this instance, I actually have some sympathy with the council.

The major fire at the Millpark depot recently destroyed the keys to bin lorries, which was beyond the council’s control. The local authority did its best to redirect vehicles from elsewhere in the region but, inevitably, there was fall- out from the damage cause by the blaze.

It will take time to return to normal so – and I find this hard to say – but let’s cut the council a little slack this time.