More residents than ever are complaining about missed bin collections, according to Councillors representing Woodlands ward. They’ve been receiving complaints about problems with household waste, garden waste and recycling from across the ward.
Although the Council claims these problems have been isolated events some residents say they’ve been missed off bin collections for weeks on end. Councillors representing the ward want to know if it’s part of a bigger problem. With the move to a fortnightly collection now imminent they’re asking whether the poor service could be due to reductions in staffing levels ahead of the changes.
One of the residents affected is Mike Walker who lives in Allesley Green. He contacted the Councillors weeks ago about the problems he’s been experiencing. He says that despite missing six out of ten of the last collections the Council blamed an ‘excessive volume of garden waste’ on one occasion for missing him out.
Comnenting on the situation he said; “Collections were due to start on 8th March. Since then 10 collections were due but 60% weren’t collected until the following day and in one case not until the following Saturday. No one at the call centre seems to know where the crews are once they have left the depot. Surely there must be some contact? Surely a web site could be set up giving details of areas that are going to be missed with details of why and when the collection is likely to be made?”
Woodlands ward councillor, Cllr Julia Lepoidevin said; “We’ve had a range of excuses wheeled out to justify the poor service residents have been receiving. These have included problems accessing streets due to parked vehicles and even excessive levels of garden waste. However, there’s been a huge rise in the number of residents contacting us to report missed bin collections so I don’t believe that these are isolated incidents. People in Woodlands ward pay a high level of council tax, don’t they deserve a decent service?”
Fellow Woodlands ward Councillor, Cllr Pete Male said; “The Council will be changing to a fortnightly collection soon, however some residents in Woodlands ward seem to be receiving that already. The Council need to explain why the level of service has been so poor recently. Are they deliberately operating at lower staffing levels ahead of the shift to the fortnightly collection? This standard doesn’t bode well for the future.”
Leader of Coventry Conservatives and Woodlands ward Councillor, Cllr Gary Ridley said; “The Council needs to get a grip of this situation. With the warmer weather upon us, uncollected bins could become a magnet for maggots and other pests. At a recent council meeting we asked the Deputy Cabinet Member for City Services to tell us how many reports of missed collections there had been – he refused to tell us. We need answers fast and residents need this service to get back to an acceptable level quickly.”