Greater Manchester council is the first in England to start collecting wheelie bins once every three weeks, scrapping the current fortnightly collection. The controversial decision was passed by councillors in Bury on Wednesday night, despite fears fly tipping would increase. One councillor who voted for the motion accused her opposition of ‘scaremongering’ after they warned rubbish would pile up and attract unwanted critters.
More than 3000 people signed a petition against the new scheme which is set to be introduced on the 6th October this year. The initiative will affect the grey bins used for general household waste which can’t be recycled. The green and blue coloured bins which are used to recycle paper, glass and plastic will be collected more often as a result of the decreased general collection. Recycling bins will now be collected every three weeks instead of monthly.
Local labour MP Ivan Lewis said difficult decisions had to be made because of the coalition imposing an effective 50% cut to the councils budget over five years. “The cuts being imposed by the Con/Dem Government on Bury Council are unprecedented and mean many front line services are at risk,” read Ivan Lewis’ blog. Some MP’s privately complain that they receive more complaints about bin collection than any other issue despite the fact that bin collection responsibility lies with the local government rather than parliament.