A Green council has been branded “mad” after it proposed collecting household bins once a month.
Bristol city council could become the first local authority in England to introduce the policy, which it claims will save £2.3 million and help the environment.
The plans have been fiercely criticised for their potential to increase fly-tipping and odour pollution.
Benjamin Elks, grassroots development manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, accused the council of being “more interested in virtue-signalling than doing its job”.
He said: “Bristolians are sick to the back teeth with their council’s hare-brained schemes.
“Residents shouldn’t have to put up with overflowing bins and filthy streets just because the council is more interested in virtue-signalling than doing its job.
“The Green-run council needs to start delivering the basic services locals expect.”
‘Utter rubbish’
Cllr Mark Weston, the leader of the Tory group on the council, said the plans were “utter rubbish”.
He told The Telegraph: “The minimum residents expect from their council is to collect rubbish and they expect that to be regular and on time.
“If you start taking that away, they have to question what value they are getting from their council tax.
“The Greens are doing it because they want to have everyone forced to do recycling. I think they’re mad on that.
“I think instead what we’ll have is a shedload of fly-tipping, waste piling up and we’ll have to book slots at the tip to take household rubbish there.”
The council’s plan to reduce bin collection services has come under fire from Tory councillors for ‘forcing’ people to recycle – Stuart Dagnall/Alamy
Before last year’s general election, the Conservatives had planned to introduce a “backstop” forcing councils in England to collect bins at least once a fortnight.
But authorities are now able to press ahead with less frequent collections after the Government axed the plans.
Changes could save £2.3 million
On Monday, Bristol city council opened a consultation on its plans to reduce collections to once every three weeks or once a month which will remain open until March.
The authority has claimed the changes would save £1.3 million or £2.3 million a year respectively and that recyclable food waste constitutes a quarter of the city’s household rubbish.
Cllr Heather Mack, deputy leader of the council, insisted she did not want residents to “unduly struggle”.
“We would also offer larger bins for larger households, and an extra collection for people with sanitary products or nappies,” she said.
The plans have provoked uproar because the authority has no plans to reduce council tax in line with the claimed savings, and instead proposed last year to increase rates by 15 per cent.
Samuel Williams, the former Conservative candidate for Bristol Central, said the council was “making life increasingly difficult whilst putting up council tax”.
“The city will say no [but] they will do it anyway and then we have to enjoy a month’s worth of dirty nappies overflowing across our streets in the heights of summer,” he said.
Cllr Henry Michallat, the Conservative councillor for Stoke Bishop, added: “These proposals come at a time when the council are proposing increasing council tax.
“This can only mean they will end up paying much more for less in terms of an absolutely essential service.
“I believe that this will encourage fly tipping in certain areas, which is already a massive problem right across the whole city.”
Fly-tipping concerns
Cllr Andrew Brown, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, said residents feared the changes would lead to fly-tipping.
He said: “The potential benefit is that you increase recycling rates by reducing that residual collection and therefore encouraging people to recycle more and separate all their waste accordingly.
“But the concern I hear back is that there could be an increase in fly-tipping. There are hotspots around the city where it’s already an issue.”
There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of councils collecting bins just once every three weeks since 2015.
A number of authorities across Britain have switched to monthly collections, including Fife council and Conwy county borough council.
Bristol city council’s plans are not the first time Green-led councils have been accused of putting environmental and cost concerns above local concerns.
In July, farmers protested against a plan by the Green-led North Devon council to switch to fully plant-based meals at council meetings.
This year, Brighton and Hove council reversed a ban on weedkiller introduced by an earlier Green-led council after complaints that weeds were growing up to 2ft tall.
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