Liberal Democrat Councillors on North Somerset Council are demanding answers to why some areas in the district had to wait up to 6 weeks with no refuse and recycling collections.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on North Somerset Council Cllr Deborah Yamanaka said “It is terrible that many residents did not have their rubbish collected for many weeks. The snow a few weeks ago started off the problem but the contractors have been unacceptably slow to catch up.”

South Worle Councillor Chris Howell said “Some parts of my ward had no collection for 6 weeks and the only advice from the Council was to take their rubbish to the recycling centres. This is not always possible as not everyone has a car. Will it be just as bad every time we get snow?"

The Liberal Democrats want answers from the Conservative Executive member responsible for waste.

Why are the collections in such a mess, with some areas having very few problems and others having weeks of missed collections?

Why was there no effective plan for catching up on missed collections?

Why were residents not able to get through to Council Connect after Christmas?

Why did the Executive member not ensure that the contractors had the resources to cope with winter weather and Christmas waste?

Why did the extra Christmas waste come as a surprise?

What is being done to make sure this does not happen again?

When local residents did make their way to the recycling centre in Weston the glass and paper banks were full and residents were encouraged to put recyclables in the general waste skips.

Cllr Yamanaka added "I hope that the present situation does not discourage residents from recycling. The Conservative Executive councillors must do everything they can to sort out the mess now and make sure that it does not happen again."

ENDS

published by: North Somerset Liberal Democrats, 12 Henley Lodge, Yatton, Bristol, BS49 4JQ

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