A CALL for the council to get to grips with delayed bin collections has been made by opposition councillors.
They say that in one week in November, 211 roads across the town saw delays to their grey bin (general waste) collections, 114 roads had issues with their recycling bin pick-ups, and 502 roads had problems with the collection of green waste bins.
The Green Party said this accounted for a quarter of all roads in the borough, and it wasn’t good enough.
The council says it was caused by exceptional circumstances and crews had worked hard to catch-up – although festive bin collection days will see some changes to the rotas.
Cllr Dave McElroy (Green Party, Redlands Ward) said: “For the week commencing Monday, November 13, 24% of roads had a delay with their bin collection. Overflowing bins leads to problems with more waste being dumped and blown around creating litter.
“Many Reading roads already suffer with these problems, we don’t need more litter and fly-tipping.
“And the longer the bins are left out on the street night after night, the greater the chance they are likely to be attacked by marauding foxes or late-night revellers on their way home, like we’ve seen time and again in residential areas close to the university. The mess this creates is dire.
“The council needs a better system so it knows what’s going on, work needs to be done on vehicle reliability and staff conditions need to be improved. The Labour lead councillor needs to get a grip on this so our excellent bin crews can get our bins emptied on time.
“With the changes over Christmas it is important the council gets on top of this.”
Reading Borough Council said they are working hard to meet the expectations of residents, and will continue to try to make the service as consistent and reliable as possible.
A spokesperson said: “Reading Borough Council’s waste collection services have been operating to schedule since December 4 for all waste types, barring a single delay to a small number of roads.”
This, the spokesperson said, was concerning the recent Thames Water closure of the Bath Road in addressing a burst water main, with the bins collected the following day.
“The Council aims to maintain that pace and provide our full service throughout the Christmas period, though residents should note that due to bank holidays, their collection days will move out from the normal day during the three weeks from Christmas Day,” they continued.
“Over the holidays, our service will be enhanced to help residents cope with the additional waste generated at Christmas, by collecting excess recycling as long as it’s in a cardboard box presented next to the recycling bin, and up to two additional bags of domestic waste if presented in bin bags next to the waste bin.
“We acknowledge that issues have been experienced in the past, including the week commencing November 13, which was particularly challenging due to multiple vehicle breakdowns and staff absences.
“Despite these setbacks, our crews worked the extended hours needed to ensure all collections were completed, which were largely dealt with the next day.”
