Council criticised over bin collections change

Slough: Move could leave residents ‘unhappy’ and lead to a rise in fly-tipping

Slough Borough Council came under fire at a meeting this week as it approved plans to begin fortnightly bin collections from next summer.

Senior Labour councillors met at the council’s headquarters in Windsor Road on Wednesday to discuss the proposals, which it says will save the authority about £705,000 per year.

The move – to come into effect from Monday, June 23 – will bring SBC in line with the majority of other UK councils, who have already made the switch from weekly bin collections.

Councillors also told this week’s meeting that the new plans would increase Slough’s recycling rates, adding the town ‘currently has one of the lowest recycling rates in the country’.

The council said flat blocks which have communal bins/wheeled containers will continue to have weekly collections, with buildings reviewed on a location by location basis.

Slough Borough Council is also seeking to add £40,000 to its budget by charging for certain waste items at its

Chalvey Household Waste and Recycling Centre in White Hart Road.

It also plans to begin charging for new and replacement wheeled bins that are damaged by the resident – with people on basic pensions and low incomes exempt or receiving

discounts.

Council leader James Swindlehurst told the meeting if the council is the liable party, it will replace damaged bins.

These two changes will come into force from Tuesday, November 1, SBC said.

Food waste will remain within the grey general waste bins rather than being collected separately – but the council said it will be reviewing options to separately collect food waste.

The changes were met with some resistance from opposition members at Wednesday’s meeting, including Councillor Chandra Muvvala (Con, Langley Kedermister).

He felt that the move would result in Slough residents becoming ‘unhappy’ and lead to a rise in fly-tipping across the area.

“Many residents are not welcoming these new changes,” Cllr Muvvala said.

“Just because it is already in place in other areas, does not mean we are in a position to implement the same policy. Slough is different.

“Many areas of Slough are not maintained well already and we notice fly-tipping everywhere. Once the new changes are in place we may find more unhappy, distressed residents start flytipping.”

Leader of the Slough Conservatives Cllr Dexter Smith (Con, Colnbrook with Poyle) said the move was a result of the council’s bankruptcy.

“If we put ourselves in their [residents] shoes – they are going to be asking what is the likely impact on public health and the cost of living crisis,” he added.

Cllr Rob Anderson (Lab, Britwell and Northborough) defended the switch, calling it a ‘no-brainer’ adding ‘every council’ which has made the move has seen an increase in recycling rates.

“There is going to be less [vehicle] movements, we are going to spend less on fuel and there are going to be fewer lorries on the road,” he said.

Cllr Swindlehurst also backed the plans, adding SBC had been ‘less hawkish’ than other Tory-run councils which made the changes some time ago.

He said that these areas had not reported increases in flytipping but SBC would be keeping the situation ‘under review’.