Conservative controlled Shepway Fails to Respond to Concerns Over Refuse Collection

Local Lib Dem Gary Fuller has hit out at Conservative controlled Shepway District Council for their failure to respond to his questions about their planned changes to refuse collection in Shepway.

He wrote to the relevant Cabinet member, Cllr Rory Love, on April 13th to request further information on how local people will be consulted on changes that could lead to households having to find room for additional bins. He also quizzed Cllr Love on the special arrangements for residents living in flats, many of whom currently don't have access to recycling, and the cost of purchasing additional bin bags for households with young children. Despite resending his e-mail on May 10th, he has yet to receive any response from Cllr Love.

Commenting, Sandgate Parish Councillor Gary said:

"There is real opportunity here to create a Cleaner and Greener Shepway. I had hoped that Cllr Love would respond to my questions in a timely fashion so that we can be sure to deliver the excellent refuse collection scheme that people in Shepway deserve. I have to say I'm extremely disappointed by the lack of any response."

In his original correspondance, Gary wrote:

"Veolia are currently in the process of assessing the needs of households in the area with regards to the number of bins they can accommodate. Will they, as part of this process be speaking to householders to ensure that they have an input into deciding what their collection needs are?"

On special arrangements, he wrote:

"Will such arrangements include the provision of different types of bin bag for different types of waste?"

On the cost of additional bin bags, he wrote:

"Additional bags can be purchased at a cost of £1.95 each. I very much doubt this is a true reflection of the cost of producing them and I also believe that it leads to fly tipping. Will the new scheme stop the charging of households for additional bags that should be covered under their Council Tax?"