Campaigners concerned waste collection petition was 'ignored'

Following news that the waste collection service across the borough will be reduced to once every three weeks, campaigners are concerned that a petition signed by over 2,500 residents has been ignored.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97733/three-weekly-bin-collections-given-the-go-ahead

Gary Osbaldeston, a spokesman for the campaign group Keep Rochdale Tidy, said: “The question must be asked why they have chosen to ignore nearly 2,600 people who said no.

"Questions need to be asked. Some residents are now seeking other and more direct ways of taking action.

“At the minute the vast majority of the food/garden waste bins that will be collected weekly will be virtually empty. The council will be doing a bin round of emptying empty bins, which I think is a total waste of money.

“The council should have sent out a consultation document and response form to every household in the borough. That would have been a real consultation, as I still think the vast amount of people do not know about these changes.”

Following the announcement in June 2015 that the collection service could go to once every three weeks, the petition to object to the plans was started and garnered 2,582 signatures but, despite this, councillors agreed that the plans should go ahead.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/96728/opposition-to-council%E2%80%99s-plan-to-reduce-bin-collections-grows-with-online-petition

The 'public consultation' undertaken by the council only received 295 responses.

Rochdale Council state that they considered all comments received during the consultation period.

A council spokesman said: “The council considered all comments received during the consultation period. We listened to what people had to say and have developed the service with residents’ concerns in mind.

“For example, compostable bags will be provided for free on an ongoing basis and residents’ individual circumstances will be considered if they request a second rubbish bin.

“We understand that not everyone’s circumstances will be the same and we aim to help everyone who wants to recycle more.

“The council needs to make savings of £37 million over the next two years which means we need to do things differently. Introducing weekly food collections, whilst collecting the other bins every three weeks will help us save £1 million a year to help protect essential services.”