12:49pm Thursday 22nd October 2009
By Rebecca Lowe
CLAIMS that there are secret plans to cut wheelie bin collections to once a fortnight have been hotly refuted by Enfield Council.
The council is keen to quash fears among residents that its three-bin pilot scheme is the first step towards fortnightly collections, but many people remain sceptical.
A recent survey of local collection policies, commissioned by Labour MP Joan Ryan, has rekindled concerns about the service.
According to the survey, which assesses the collection policies of every London borough, the majority of councils issue only one bin or give residents a choice.
The only other borough that gives its residents three large wheelie bins is Harrow, which operates a fortnightly collection.
Ms Ryan said: “Only one other borough in the whole of London gives residents three big bins, and that’s Harrow, which only collect them once every two weeks. So I think the council is secretly planning to move to fortnightly collections.
"That would be a disaster for people in Enfield. It would encourage fly-tipping and leave waste to rot for up to two weeks, which encourages vermin such as rats and flies to flourish.
"The council needs to come clean with residents about their plans for fortnightly collections.”
Alison James, 61, of Sheringham Avenue, was also sceptical about the council's claims.
She is one of dozens of residents who have complained the bins are ugly, too large and unhygienic.
She said: "I can't see any reason why we would be given such awful bins, which clutter the pavement and look so cumbersome, unless the council had a plan up its sleeve to cut our collections.
"If no other councils except Harrow have chosen to do it this way, why should Enfield? It just doesn't make any sense.
"I wish we had a choice in the matter, but they seem to just be forcing us to accept them no matter what."
Under the pilot scheme, each Enfield household has been issued with three wheelie bins, one 140-litre bin for non-recyclable waste and two 240-litre bin for recyclable waste.
The larger container will hold the equivalent of four full black sacks.
The council has stressed that residents who think the bins are too heavy to move can also ask for assisted collections.
Councillor Terry Neville, cabinet member for the environment, strongly refuted suggestions that the collections would be reduced and claimed the new bins were merely designed to increase capacity for recycling.
He said: "This council is absolutely committed to weekly collections and no bin taxes.
"We believe wheeling bins are needed, not only to make Enfield among the cleanest boroughs, but to radically increase our recycling rates to pay for Government and EU-imposed fines for not recycling enough.
"I have been absolutely crystal clear right from the start of this wheelie bin pilot scheme that we are completely flexible in our approach.
"Not all residents have three bins, some have two and I have been clear that any residents who feels they cannot accommodate their bins should contact the council and we will reach an amicable solution."
Under European Union directives, UK councils face fines of up to £180 million a year if they do not reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by half of 1995 levels, by 2013.
The Government also fines councils separately for not hitting recycling targets by up to £2m a year.
Around 382 households are currently signed up for assisted collections, with another 1,800 on the waiting list.
For more information on assisted collections, call 020 8379 1000.
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