Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Broken promise after the election
Waste bins WILL be emptied every three weeks now
council leader Jim Logue has been accused of “deceiving voters” and breaking an election pledge after it was announced general waste bins are set to be uplifted every three weeks from the autumn.
In the build-up to last month’s closelycontested council elections, the Airdrie Central representative vowed that if Labour were re-elected there would be no change to waste management cycles.
But in an embarrassing u- turn the Labour leader has now said general waste bins will be emptied every three weeks after all, leaving residents in fear of a potential upsurge in rodent infestations and fly-tipping.
In March Councillor Logue told the Advertiser that reports of three-weekly collections were “incorrect” and “would not happen”.
In a statement issued weeks before the election he insisted: “There has never been a proposal to change waste management cycles and, as such, any suggestion that collections are due to change to three-weekly are incorrect.
“This is not happening, full stop. If reelected, Labour will make sure bins are collected on the same cycles as they are at present.”
Now just one month on from the election, the council leader’s statement has come back to haunt him and the new plan, put before the council’s policy and resources committee, is aimed at saving the council £670,000 annually and helping to reduce the number of tonnes of residual waste.
Councillor Logue backed the changes and claimed his previous statement had been based upon an out-dated report.
He said: “I believe we have little choice but to change our waste collections if we are going to meet the national targets set out in the Zero Waste plan.
“We need to invest in our recycling centres to improve the service there and, inevitably, we require to save money.
“While I had a strong view about residual waste bins being collected every three weeks based on a previous report from some time ago, this report sets out exactly why that has to be done now.
“In simple terms, if every householder recycles everything that can be recycled then they won’t have much to put in their residual bin.”
However, Airdrie & Shotts MSP Alex Neil said: “It appears that Labour have backtracked on another promise and deceived voters.
“The excuse being used by the LabourTory administration is not good enough, with other councils across Scotland meeting national Zero Waste plan targets while not resorting to cutting basic waste services. It is simply incompetence.”
As well as a reduction in the number of bins collected, the new scheme will also see a change in what goes into them.
Food and garden waste would be collected in a single bin, collected fortnightly, with other bins for paper and card; glass, metal and plastic; and residual waste collected every three weeks starting from the autumn.
An SNP call for a public consultation was defeated 12- 6 at the policy and resources committee meeting.
SNP group leader David Stocks said: “This council agreed to hold a public consultation on wheelie bin changes back in 2015. This promise has been blatantly ignored.
“North Lanarkshire residents are being treated with contempt by the Labour Party and their Tory backers.”
Shotts MP Neil Gray added: “This is all about Labour trying to save money to make up for its own mismanagement in previous administrations. Blaming recycling targets is nothing more than a cover-up, it is all about money.”
This is all about Labour trying to save money ... MP Neil Gray