Council’s new leaders vow to tackle recycling problems and revisit bridge plans

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A council’s new leaders have pledged to tackle problems with bin and recycling collections and revisit plans to replace a storm-damaged bridge after a previous scheme was abandoned.

Former leader of Denbighshire County Council Jason McLellan stepped down at the end of August and dissolved the cabinet due to internal disagreements within the Labour and Plaid Cymru coalition, leading to “inertia”.

Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd and Gwyddelwern independent councillor Hugh Evans was elected as the new leader earlier this week, winning the vote over Plaid Cymru’s Cllr Gwyneth Ellis.

Cllr Evans, who served as leader between 2007 and 2022, selected a new cabinet, with Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts taking the position of deputy leader and remaining as Independent Group leader.

Both have now vowed to try and clear up the mess of the disastrous launch of the new recycling scheme, which has led to millions of pounds spent and countless complaints of residents reporting missed bin and recycling collections.

The duo also said they were open to relooking at replacing Llanerch Bridge.

The council spent £1.8m on designing a new bridge after Storm Christoph swept away the old structure, leaving Tremeirchion and Trefnant residents forced to make costly detours of up to seven miles.

But the council abandoned the plans for the bridge when fears were raised that work to build a new bridge over the River Clwyd could endanger public health by drilling into the sandstone riverbed and contaminating the water supply.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service caught up with the new leader and deputy leader this week to discuss their plans.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: What went wrong with the last administration?

Cllr Hugh Evans: I think there’s a couple of things there. First, there seems to be a growing lack of confidence amongst residents and a feeling of residents not being understood or listened to. And the consequence was that that filtered through the members and probably what panned out that came out into the two by-elections, where there was a change of membership from those two by-elections, and then the political balance as a consequence changed.

And then a different conversation, I would guess, was taking place between Plaid Cymru and Labour in the cabinet, and an agreement could not be reached, and therefore cabinet was dissolved, and there was a lull in the political leadership of the council.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: It was implied at the full council meeting there was a divide between officers and councillors. What’s the situation?

Cllr Hugh Evans: As a backbencher, there was a feeling that our voices were not heard, and it was difficult to relay the messages from our residents through the organisation.

If you do look at the (council’s) self-assessment, it’s clear that there is evidence of good work at the highest level, but it hasn’t necessarily taken the communities with it. So there was a divide between the high-level decision-making and probably the expectations of backbench members, who are the voice of the residents at a community level.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: What needs to change at the council now?

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts: Fundamentally, we have an eight-month period to stabilise the council before the next election, restoring trust and confidence in our residents, in our staff, and also in the council membership. And it seems to us very clear that the golden thread from corporate level to communities is not working as well as it could be. And I think that our focus is going to be residents at the fore of all our thinking.

We’ll be looking to put a few things right and better, so that by the time we leave office in May, Denbighshire County Council will be far nearer its communities than it currently is.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: I know it’s early days, but what are you going to change?

Cllr Hugh Evans: The first thing that needs to happen is to strengthen the relationship between the cabinet and senior officers at a higher level, in order to fully understand and appreciate the context of the challenges that lie ahead. That will be a clear exercise. The second point will be to engage with the backbench members. So there will be a lead member for members now engaging with the six member area groups, getting feedback from those members.

That feedback then will filter through back into the services, back into different rounds within the organisation, so the voice of the communities will be heard, and also probably, working in partnership with the Chief Exec. is to create a culture where challenge is good and acceptable, and to really focus and get on top of the need to do what the residents have put us in for, and to just to re-engage, refocus, and bring the council closer to communities.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: How are you going to fix the situation with recycling and bins?

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts: I can tell you categorically that the first thing on our agenda will be recycling. I think we are mature enough to understand that the experience of the recycling rollout has left residents bruised, has left them somewhat less confident about the council, and that’s really important that we revisit that quickly. We’ll have a quick evaluation and come out with something that will be of benefit to the residents.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: So are you proposing to change the current recycling system in place?

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts: We wouldn’t be changing it. It would be improving and refining, in my view, to make it an easier process for residents to have their bins collected without hassle, without stress, and restore normal service.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: But by improving and refining the service, that is changing it essentially, so without being unfair, are there any early talks about how that might be done?

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts: We’re on day two and haven’t had a meeting with the (recycling) service. So I don’t want to be unfair on the service. But what you have to understand is there are policies in that service that make bin collection, waste collection, difficult. And so the first area of that is to look at policies that could be more open, more flexible, and more resident-friendly.

Cllr Hugh Evans: The principle, I think, is the right one. The practice has not been as effective as it could have been. Things are better than they were at the beginning, but we will revisit elements of that which are not working for our residents. And probably one of our main objectives as a new cabinet will be to bring the community closer to the council.

So we will have to listen, and we will be engaging. And as Huw said, we want them to have confidence and assurance that we will challenge our officers to deliver the quality and standard of service that they expect.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: I noticed the new cabinet is made up of independent, non-aligned, and Conservative councillors. Could you shed any light on your thinking when selecting the new members?

Cllr Hugh Evans: Well, I see it from a perspective that it’s a cabinet with a mix of experience and new members, and it was important for me to remind myself of the people who supported me in the election for leadership, and if that suggests that they were comfortable with my presentation and messages within that presentation.

So the expectancy of cabinet is to deliver what were the messages coming out of that presentation, and I’m really comfortable and pleased that I have got a balanced cabinet with people who’ve got both experience and enthusiasm to move the organisation forward. So there was no political agenda to omit anyone or to add anyone. It was just wanting people who supported me and agreed with the needs, the political needs, moving forward.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: Will you be revisiting the decision on Llanerch bridge?

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts: We will be revisiting Llanerch Bridge. It’s one of the other things we will be revisiting where we are coming in with a fresh look at services, and we’ve been looking to ensure that we are not afraid to challenge stuff that maybe we have to revisit, but also that we need to make sure that our services are fit for purpose for the residents and not fit for purpose for the services.

Local Democracy Reporting Service: So you are optimistic about the coming months ahead?

Cllr Hugh Evans: Well, we’ve had quite a few discussions with senior officers in the organisation, and the conversations have been really positive. There’s a conversation of openness, which I always encourage, and I’m really looking forward to the next few months.

Yes, there are challenging issues. We can be here for the next ten years and there will be challenging issues, but I’m really comfortable and confident that the level of engagement so far is a willingness to deal with these difficult issues and realising the need and the importance that these issues have on our residents. So the first few days have been really good, very positive, and I’m looking forward to the next few months to deal with these important issues.

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The new cabinet:

• Councillor Hugh Evans, Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth, Corporate Governance, and Tackling Deprivation. Independent.
• Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Education and Children, Welsh Language, Culture and Heritage. Independent.
• Councillor Anton Sampson, Lead Member for Corporate Strategy, Policy and Equalities. Conservative.
• Councillor Will Price, Lead Member for Planning and Countryside. Non-aligned.
• Councillor Geraint Lloyd-Williams, Lead Member for Housing and the Local Development Plan. Independent.
• Councillor James Elson, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport. Conservative.
• Councillor Brian Jones, Lead Member for Finance, Assets, and Local Economy. Conservative.
• Councillor Bobby Feeley, Lead Member for Health, Social Care, and Communities. Independent.
• (Cllr Feeley will continue as Chair of the authority to complete her civic duties and will join the Cabinet on 21 September).

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