Council admits operational pressures behind ‘ridiculous’ repeated missed bin collections

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

Operational and staffing pressures have been blamed for a series of missed bin collections, with a council acknowledging problems with its service.

Flintshire County Council has also admitted its process for adding new developments to collection rounds needs improving after residents at one housing development in Buckley went without bin collections for five months.

This week there have been a number of complaints highlighted about the service missing or not carrying out bin collections over months.

also admitted that it is looking to streamline the lengthy process for including new developments on existing bin collection routes that caused one new housing development in Buckley to be without a service for five months.

This week there have been a number of complaints highlighted about the service missing or not carrying out bin collections over months.

Nathan Long – one of 61 residents who have moved into the Hawthorn Meadows development off Well Street in Buckley this year – reported that no-one on the site had received their new bins or had their waste collected since April.

“We did all the things you are supposed to do,” he said. “We were among the first to move in and we signed up to pay our council tax – because you don’t want to be in arrears on that – and also registered for our bins and for waste collection.

“But we have had nothing.”

Meanwhile in Brynford near Holywell Laura Lloyd highlighted that the council had missed half of her three-weekly black bin waste collections – something which has seen her bins begin to attract fly-tipping.

Mrs Lloyd has to take her bins to the end of a lane for collections and recently one was left there for five weeks after the council repeatedly failed to turn up to collect it having rescheduled collection.

“This cycle has continued for months,” she said. “I’ve contacted my local councillor Fran Lister who helped me get my bin collected last month but even she has had no success this month. It’s absolutely ridiculous, the amount of phone calls and emails.”

Apology issued

Katie Wilby, Flintshire County Council’s Chief Officer for Streetscene and Transportation, has apologised for the issues faced by residents and said that the fault – in part – is due to council savings.

“The council apologises for the repeated missed waste collections and the resulting frustration, especially during the recent hot weather,” she said.

“Recent operational and resource pressures forced us to use crews unfamiliar with complex rural routes.

“We have also recently reduced the number of rounds, which aimed to build resilience; however, it temporarily increased pressure on the team whilst they were adapting to the changes.”

In relation to Mrs Lloyd’s issues in Brynford, Ms Wilby said the council understood the additional challenges facing residents who have to put their bins out a distance from their homes.

“We understand that consistency is vital, particularly for rural residents who must move their waste to main road collection points. We also regret that our scheduled return collections were not reliably completed.

“These issues have now been reviewed and resolved with altered route arrangements and measures put in place to ensure reliable future service.”

Criticism of authority 

Ms Wilby did address criticism of the authority over its process for incorporating new-build housing sites into bin routes.

She said that while the authority was looking to speed up the process, it remained important to carry out the correct assessments of the sites before committing to new routes.

“Newly constructed properties do not automatically appear on the council’s waste and recycling collection system when they become occupied,” she said.

“There is a process that must be completed before a new property or development can be safely incorporated into existing collection rounds. This is currently being reviewed to ensure it is correct and seamless while trying to improve the timely response to the new residents of Flintshire.

“For new developments, the council would normally expect the developer to engage with us in advance of occupation so that waste and recycling requirements can be assessed, appropriate bins and bags ordered and delivered and suitable collection arrangements established.

“This includes confirming which properties are complete and occupied, ensuring that the addresses are correctly registered with the council, determining the appropriate waste and recycling bins required, identifying suitable collection points and allocating the properties to an appropriate collection round.

“Importantly, the council must also undertake a site-specific risk assessment to ensure that our collection vehicles and crews can safely access and manoeuvre within the development. This is particularly important where an estate remains under construction or where roads have not yet been formally adopted.”

Other developments 

Other Castle Green developments – including the large Airfields development in Deeside – had bin collections sorted within a month while their roads were unadopted and construction was still underway.

A spokesperson for Castle Green Homes said: “It’s not standard practice for a homebuilder to inform the local authority of when residents are moving into a development.

“Ordinarily once a home is registered for council tax residents then apply to the council for bins for their household. Residents of Hawthorn Meadows have gone through this process but are yet to receive their bins or be included in the waste collection route.”

Flintshire County Council said that where arrangements had not been made in advance, residents should get in touch with them directly.

“Where the necessary arrangements have not been established in advance by the developer, residents moving into newly completed properties are asked to contact the council to request bins,” said Ms Wilby.

“This enables us to confirm the property details and ensure the correct containers and collection arrangements are put in place.

“We appreciate that residents moving into a new home will understandably expect waste and recycling services to be available and we are working to establish the position regarding the occupied properties at this development.

“A Recycling Officer can liaise with the development and residents to establish which properties are currently occupied, complete the necessary checks and site assessment and ensure that eligible properties are incorporated into the Council’s waste and recycling collection service as quickly as reasonably practicable.

“We would encourage developers to engage with us at the earliest possible stage before residents occupy new properties so that these arrangements can be made in advance and disruption to new residents can be avoided.”

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