Council contemplate reducing winter bin collections

A local Council's plans to save £30,000 by reducing the frequency of winter bin collections are in doubt after a councillor raised concerns cross-contamination may negate any potential saving.

During a confidential meeting at which Causeway Coast and Borough Council thrashed out savings in order to reduce the rates increase, they settled on a proposal to reduce winter brown bin collections.

Instead of the usual fortnightly collection, Council opted to reduce the frequency of collections to monthly from November to February, a move that would save the Council in the region of £30,000.

However, at this week's Environmental Services Committee, Cllr William McCandless raised concerns that improper disposal of waste could end up costing the Council more than that.

“This was a condensed version of an original proposal and was brought to prevent the loss of jobs. We need to address this seriously,” he said.

“This [brown bin] is a fairly recent innovation in the Borough, and I have concerns the good discipline we have introduced could be impacted with a four-month interruption to our regular service.

“It took many years for the blue bins to be established, and a few incidents of food waste being disposed of improperly could cost more than the proposed £30,000 savings.”

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In response, a Council official said he would be in favour of retaining the existing fortnightly collection and that any decision would require a restructure of the Council budget.

“My own opinion would be to keep the fortnightly collection,” he said.

“We took this decision only three weeks ago. It was removed from my budget, so we'd need to assess where we could make that budget up.

“We would have to sticker all the bins to let them know there is a change in service, so there is an element of cost associated with that.”

Bann councillor Adrian McQuillan said the monthly collection could work.

Cllr Adrian McQuillan said the Council should run the plan as a 'pilot', suggesting the brown bins were not as full during winter.

“The brown bins for me are never full, I know mine isn't. It's never even half full every fortnight. It wouldn't be even in the summer time for I don't put my grass cuttings into it,” he said.

“I know other people who rely on it and it would be full every fortnight. At this time of the year, I don't see any big problem doing it monthly at all.

”I know it has to sit an extra two weeks, and it might cause a bit of smell, but I'm not sure it would be a while lot.

“I think it's worth it for a year. 30 grand is 30 grand. I think it would be worth doing for a year as a pilot.”

Alderman Alan Robinson addressed the question of where any money would come from to plug the £30,000 gap.

“The million dollar question is the £30,000 saving and given the trajectory all of us are on, have you any idea where we find this?” he asked.

Councillors agreed to discuss the item at next month's full council meeting.

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