New waste wagons ‘on city roads in new year’

BIRMINGHAM’S bin collections will improve ‘instantly’ when a fleet of new wagons hits the roads – but that will not be until spring next year.

Amid claims the city is ‘becoming the dirtiest in the UK’ waste boss John O’Shea, Labour councillor for Acocks Green, revealed that missed collections had fallen in recent months – following the second strike in two years – but admitted the service was still ‘not good enough’.

Meanwhile the council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. Cllr Tristan Chatfield (Lab, Weoley and Selly Oak) argued that waste services would still face problems even Committee member Cllr Muhammad Afzal (Lab, Aston) criticised the current level of service, labelling it ‘disgraceful’.

He said: “There is rubbish on the streets, fly-tipping on the streets – we are becoming the dirtiest in the UK.”

Recent figures showed that the council’s collection rate between April and July was 99.5 per cent against a target of 99.9 per cent, a figure that still meant 48,448 collections out of a scheduled 11,575,194 were missed.

“I accept we are starting at a very low point in terms of the level of service that people get,” said Cllr O’Shea. “It’s not what they deserve, or what they should expect.

“That has improved significantly since May. The number of dropped roads across the city has halved but it is not good enough. We have not got to the point where I’m happy with the service. But we are certainly heading in the right direction. There are things we can do to improve that.

“Replacing the vehicles is probably the single biggest improvement we can make that will deal with about 45 to 50 per cent of missed collections, instantly. If vehicles work, it will mean we can get the roads cleared.

“We are happier now we don’t have a significant problem with crews running out of time to complete their work.

“It is largely vehicle-led.”

There is rubbish on the streets, fly-tipping on the streets – we are becoming the dirtiest in the UK.

Cllr Muhammad Afzal