No bin collection for a month, rubbish piled high and rats... but council leader says: 'It's NOT a major problem'

Published 05th Jan 2011

The political leader of a city swamped by stinking black bags has declared that rubbish mountains are nothing to worry about.

Pete Edwards, Exeter’s Labour leader, insisted that the binbag barricades blocking alleyways and disfiguring roadsides were ‘not a major problem’.

In remarks which prompted a rebuke from ministers, he told families to store their rubbish during the crisis caused by the weather and councils refusing to empty bins on bank holidays.

Leader of Exeter City Council Pete Edwards said the mounting rubbish crisis was 'not a problem'. His home however looked surprisingly free of rubbish yesterday

‘People have back yards. We expect people to keep it,’ said Mr Edwards. ‘Every day the bin lorries could have been out, they have been out. I do not see it as a major problem.’

He went: ‘I have not had any complaints about the rubbish from my constituents at all. ‘And as a council, we have not had an more complaints than we would normally do.’

Exeter has become a symbol of Britain’s messy Christmas and rubbish-strewn New Year.

Scores of towns and suburbs have seen rubbish piling up on the streets in the seasonal refuse crisis dubbed ‘Binterval’.

Bin rounds have run disastrously behind schedule. Some families have been waiting a month for collections amid rising concerns over public health.

The remarks by Mr Edwards, who also works as a bus driver, follow comments from council colleagues reassuring residents that rats were not dangerous. They also threatened to fine or prosecute those who put rubbish out on the street.

Their attitude provoked a protest yesterday from Coalition minister Bob Neill.

He demanded Mr Edwards apologise and wrote to every council chief in the country urging them not to follow his example. But Mr Edwards defended his stance, saying: ‘Refuse could not have been collected on the bank holidays because rubbish tips were not open to dispose of waste.’

He added: ‘My bin has not been collected for over a month because of the severe weather. Nothing moved in Exeter apart from the main roads.

‘Since then we have had two days for Christmas and the bank holidays. They could not have worked because the tips were closed for the bank holidays. ‘I didn’t ask the tip people to open. I don’t see it is a major problem.’

Mr Neill, Local Government Minister, responded: ‘Peter Edwards should apologise for these irresponsible and insensitive comments.

‘This sort of complacency became the norm under the last government with Labour doubling council tax while slashing weekly rubbish collections.’

In one of the worst-hit areas, Birmingham, the last collection in some places was on December 14. Binmen were working yesterday to clear a backlog that has mounted up over nearly three weeks.


North Somerset

Fortnightly bin collections have meant many residents have been waiting three weeks for their rubbish to be taken away. Some in Weston-super-Mare have not had collections since December 10. Binmen worked yesterday to clear the backlog.

Exeter

Some residents waiting a month for their bins to be emptied and collections not due to resume until January 8 in some places. The council blamed the snow. It was not clear whether binmen were working yesterday.

Epping Forest

Some have waited a month for household waste to be collected. No collection yesterday. Council says food, which would go in recycling bins, can go in household waste bins.

Poole, Dorset

Fortnightly bin collections have meant some residents have been waiting three weeks for rubbish to be taken away. The council blamed the ‘continuing winter weather’ for cancelling four days of collections before Christmas, though services continued in neighbouring Bournemouth.

Warrington

Bins have gone uncollected for nearly three weeks, yet there were no binmen working yesterday. The service was due to resume today.

High Wycombe

No binmen working yesterday, despite complaints about spread of rubbish on streets. The council said two extra bags of rubbish will be picked up on the next collection.

North London

Homes in Haringey and Harrow were left without collections over Christmas. In Harrow, some have been waiting three weeks for their bins to be taken.

Lincolnshire

Some households left without rubbish collection for two weeks before Christmas. It was not clear if binmen were working yesterday.


Other councils and areas in England and Wales where residents have complained: Cheltenham, Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens, Kirklees, Leeds, Bradford, Milton Keynes, Derbyshire, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Conwy, Thurrock.

Mr Neill repeated the promise, reported in yesterday’s Daily Mail, to ‘set out measures’ to help councils return to weekly rubbish collections. However, no details have been provided on any reforms.

The minister also wrote to local authority chiefs, telling them: ‘It is particularly troubling that some reports suggest complacency and a failure to address the seriousness of the issues.

‘The public deserves a better answer than “this is not a major problem”.’

Almost all towns and cities suffering the rubbish crisis have fortnightly bin collections.

These were begun at the behest of the previous Labour regime to encourage recycling and are carried out by around 180 councils, half of those in England.

Barriers to the return of weekly rounds include EU rules on limiting the amount sent to landfill and the £1billion a year revenue from landfill taxes.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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