Express & Star

Anger and confusion over start date for Wolverhampton bin changes

Confused residents have been left scratching their heads over when fortnightly bin collections are due to start in Wolverhampton.

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Bin collections in Wolverhampton are changing to every two weeks

The controversial move to shift from weekly collections in Wolverhampton sparked public outcry when it was signed off by bosses back in March, having first been mooted in 2016.

It was widely expected to be brought in this September, but officers at the Labour-run authority say that actually there is currently no set date for the change.

A council spokesman said the date for fortnightly collections was ‘yet to be finalised’.

The announcement has prompted calls for clarity from other councillors, with former city mayor Milkinder Jaspal among those to demand transparency from the authority’s ruling group.

“My understanding is that the collections will change to fortnightly in September,” the Labour councillor for Heath Town said.

“As far as I am aware it has already been agreed by the executive team.

“We need to be perfectly clear when this is happening and to explain exactly what savings will be made as a result.

"It is important that as a council we are open and honest with the public."

Councillor Wendy Thompson, the opposition Tory leader, said it was 'scandalous' that the date of the changes had not yet been made public.

"I have been told categorically from a senior member of staff that the fortnightly collections will be brought in from September 1, so why this is information is being withheld from the public is beyond me.

"This is an issue that is causing a great deal of concern for people in the city and it is utterly ridiculous that people have not been kept informed of the changes.

"This is no way to conduct the running of a council."

The move was put on hold last summer amid a council dispute with Amey over the changes.

The city’s slop buckets will be scrapped at the end of the month as part of a waste services overhaul, which the council hopes will save £2.4 million a year.

The plans will also see a fee of £35 a year charged to residents taking up a new 42-week garden waste collection service.

Nearly 100,000 homes across the city were given 23-litre slop buckets in 2011 at a cost of £600,000 to encourage people to recycle food waste.

But they proved to be unpopular – with 5,000 households refusing to take them at all.

City environment boss, councillor Steve Evans, did not respond to the E&S’s request for a comment.