Friday, August 2, 2024

County councillor gives latest update on recycling problems

Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards has given her latest update on the problems still being faced by local people with the new recycling scheme introduced by Denbighshire County Council a few months ago. She says ...

"I know that many residents are continuing to suffer a sub-standard statutory service from Denbighshire County Council with respect the new waste collection scheme which came into effect on June 3rd

In my previous statement on this subject I explained some of the issues and some of the actions which the County Council was taking in order to address the failures occurring in the operation of the new system.

"We are not alone in experiencing these problems of late with missed collections and in some cases no collections at all which continue to occur across the County. 

"DCC continue to deploy additional vehicles and agency personnel as well as allocating additional personnel from other departments and scheduling additional weekend (Saturday) collections to cope with the issues this scheme has created. This means we are being exposed to both unplanned costs and  a degradation in the provision of other services which is not sustainable. 

"I have been pressing the responsible officers in DCC  for more information.

"It is clear that some of the new vehicles are not able to negotiate some of the narrow single-track roads in the rural areas of the County both adopted and unadopted which were all part of the collection rounds in the previous scheme.

"According to the officers responsible for the planning and implementation of this rollout, the solution proposed in the new scheme is for group collection points where residents who live on such unadopted roads are expected to transport their waste to a group collection point. I have been advised that residents in this situation have been written to, but it would appear that this is not correct in every case.

"In order to try to assess the impact of this change in the service, I have asked for the data as to how many houses fall into this category and the location. Unfortunately, despite asking on more than one occasion, DCC Officers have been unable to furnish me with this information which in itself is most unsatisfactory and disappointing.

"In order to help me to better represent residents' views, I would like to hear from anyone in the Llangollen area I represent who has received a letter from the Council informing them that collections will no longer be made from houses located on unadopted roads.

"If you haven’t received a letter and you live on such a road, I would like to hear from you too. please contact me either via Ffon/telephone  07795 652188 or Ebost /email karen.edwards@denbighshire.gov.uk

"I cannot make promises for a better service tomorrow because I have yet to see the evidence that the additional resources deployed to resolve matters are working and having the desired effect to become a sustainable and reliable system. 

"I can assure you that I am doing all I can to make sure that the responsible officers address the shortcomings in the service as a matter of urgency.

"I and my fellow councillors are also seeking answers from DCC on the true cost and financial impact  of this scheme to residents in the long term." 

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