Environment boss calls for end to scaremongering

Rochdale Council Environment Cabinet Member Councillor Wera Hobhouse has called for an end to scaremongering over alternate weekly collection. Councillor Hobhouse said: "I am sick of certain council members making bold claims to the media about being 'inundated' with complaints from residents. The reality is that when I question the Council's Environment Department or our Call Centre these complaints are simply not passed on. The scheme is not perfect but we can all improve it by reporting any problems to the Council. It is only by doing this that we can improve our service.

"At best this failure is a dereliction of duty at worst it is a deliberate attempt to gain headlines under false pretences. We had an incident at the weekend where Labour Councillor for Central Rochdale, Ibrar Khan, claimed that over a dozen of residents had been in touch. I wasn't surprised to find out that he hadn't bothered to report them. It is wrong, it is misleading and I feel it unfair on our hard working Council Officers."

Councillor Hobhouse also repeated her plea for residents to get in touch with her and she'll personally deal with any problems. She said: "I see it as my responsibility to lead from the front and ensure that we deal with all the problems that people have. Whenever you introduce a new service there are problems and I have personally dealt with a number of complaints. Alternate Weekly Collection is a tough choice. We have no choice though to increase our recycling rates. We inherited a very low recycling rate and the fact is that the Labour Party nationally has dramatically increased landfill taxes. The net result means that unless we act we will see a dramatic increase in Council Tax. I would appreciate if our politicians would react positively and respond to the challenges ahead instead of seeking news headlines."

Heywood Labour councillor Brian Davies raised the issue of bin men refusing to take the blue bags used for paper recycling if they were too heavy. It transpires there is a weight limit of 20kg, but as Councillor Davies pointed out, people are not going to weigh their paper waste and nor do the bin men have scales to check the weight.

Councillor Hobhouse said there is a health and safety issue and advised that residents should not overfill the bags and should check they can carry them then they could be reasonably sure they would not be too heavy.