Bulky waste collection

The Conservatives have pledged to re-introduce free bulky waste collections if they retain control of Peterborough City Council following May’s local elections - 12 years after they brought in the charges.

The council introduced £23 charges for bulky waste collections in 2010 (now £23.50), a policy it has retained despite a three month reversal in 2018 which was swiftly dropped after its leader said the trial had not made any difference to fly-tipping levels in the city.

Now, though, deputy leader Cllr Wayne FitzgerLabour ald has pledged that unlimited free collections will return permanently if the Conservatives hold onto power following May 6’s elections as part of a raft of measures designed to clamp down on flytipping.

Other measures include:

Paying for two trained enforcement officers with the ability to carry out prosecutions alongside police

Introducing an accredited white van scheme

Recruiting two full-time crews to proactively find bulky waste at people’s homes and take it away

Using money gained from criminals to help private landowners remove rubbish dumped on their properties.

Cllr Fitzgerald, who is standing to replace John Holdich as Conservative group leader when he steps down from office next month, told the Peterborough Telegraph: “There is a hidden world of bulky waste, nevermind the stuff on street corners. I want to get on top of this.

“There will be no reason for people to fly-tip. I just want to get the city cleaned up.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said he had always been opposed to scrapping free bulky waste collections but that the decision had been taken as a group.

He insisted that he has been pushing the idea for the past 18 months.