Council blasts bins service
A COUNCIL has slammed its ‘failing’ bin collection contractor, saying it isn’t delivering for residents.
The authority has written to its waste contractor Amey demanding it immediately improves the bin collection services in the borough as the company is placing the council ‘in breach of statutory duties.’
The letter follows months of complaints from residents after a change in the timetable for collecting household waste in October – but some say they’ve had issues with the company for years.
Amey is paid by Trafford council to collect domestic waste as part of the One Trafford Partnership agreement.
The strongly-worded letter comes after repeated meetings with Amey at a senior level where concerns were raised about the collection service and assurances were sought by the council on actions to improve performance.
The council said ‘unfortunately, these meetings have not led to the improvements that the council was expecting,’ adding ‘the service is failing and immediate action is needed to remedy the situation.’
The letter says that under the current situation Amey’s ‘persistent failures’ are placing the council in breach of its statutory duties around waste collection. It adds that there are also health and safety concerns due to rubbish not being collected from some locations for a long time. The letter demands that measures are taken to deal with the problems in the short-term.
Council leader Coun Andrew Western said: “The waste collection service is simply not up to scratch – it is failing and the residents of Trafford deserve better. I am getting complaint after complaint from angry and frustrated residents and I share their anger. What is happening is not good enough.”
An Amey spokesman said: “Amey is committed to working with Trafford council through the One Trafford Partnership to continue improving the quality of our waste collection service.
“We recognise that the service has so far fallen well below the standards expected of us and we apologise to customers for the frustration and inconvenience this has caused. We continue to work closely with Trafford council to adjust our rounds and resolve issues in areas with repeated missed collections.
“Additional resource has already been dedicated to empty outstanding missed bins and we expect customers to see a significant improvement in the coming days.”