Bin collections are about to change all over Bolton. From July 15 people all over the borough may find their bins collected on different day at different times, while one particular bin pickup will be slashed. In this special report we look at the radical changes made to a system branded “not fit for purpose.”
Every household in Bolton is receiving details “through the door” on wide ranging changes to bin collections.
This comes with collection for “beige bins” set to be cut from every two weeks to every four weeks from the middle of July, with changes to routes also set to come into effect.
A recent Bolton Council meeting heard a range of questions on how people could find out about the changes and how communication between the authority and residents could be dealt with.
Cllr David Wilkinson, of Westhoughton South, said: “There is a long list of concerns about where we are going.”
He added: “There are a lot of other nitty-gritty issues that must be resolved because it won’t be acceptable in a few months’ time to say: ‘we’ve got problems.’
Slim bins will be collected every four weeks instead of two weeks (Image: Newsquest)
“By August all the new bins will be in.”
Putting a wide ranging series of questions Cllr Wilkinson said there was a “a lot of frustration and a lot of anger.”
In response, council cabinet member for the environment Cllr Richard Silvester said that information would be available to people in a variety of different ways.
He said: “This has been updated and residents and councillors can find out more by accessing the Bolton Council website, which contains a number of responses to very informative frequently asked questions.”
He added: “The information on the website is accessible to contact centre staff.
“In addition, every household in the borough will receive a leaflet through the door which started on Monday 17 and throughout the following weeks with a calendar of their bin days.”
Cllr Silvester said that when it came to handling complaints from other councillors, this often depended on how busy the service was.
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He said: “There are some busy periods, particularly in the run up to elections or when charges are made to bin collections when the response times are slightly longer.
“The team are working hard to respond during busy periods.
“Unfortunately, during busy periods, it can sometimes take a few days to respond due to limited available resources, which have been redirected to support busy period where possible.”
He added: “The service understands that when new rounds have been established from July 15 and new vehicles delivered by the end of August, the service seek new improvements again and a consistent collection service for residents of the borough.”
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