This isn’t the first time the issue of fortnightly bin collections has been on the local political agenda. I remember just before polling day in May 2008, the year Lib Dems took control of the Council from Labour, I was accosted by an angry local resident. They were frantically waving a leaflet at me, asking why the Lib Dems planned to take away the weekly bin service. It was news to me!
On closer inspection the leaflet turned out to be from the Sheffield Labour Party. It warned that local people had ‘48 hours to save the weekly bin service’, as the Lib Dems would cut collections to fortnightly if they won the local elections. Of course I quickly put the local resident right and, just as we had promised, we maintained weekly black bin collections and we also doubled recycling collections into the bargain. This was despite facing even greater spending reductions than the Council now faces and officers offering up the move as a budget saving year after year.
Now the very same Labour councillors, who just a few years ago had urged local people to save weekly bin collections, are going ahead with the unpopular plan. A plan for which they have no political mandate whatsoever.
But Labour’s work doesn’t stop there. Just to add to local people’s waste collection woes, they will cease the green waste recycling service and close recycling centres for half of the week too.
The proposals have united residents from both ends of the recycling spectrum in opposition. Keen recyclers don’t understand why Labour will cease the green waste recycling collections at a time when we are encouraged to recycle more. Those against fortnightly black bin collections ask why Labour are going ahead with their plan when £250m of funding from the Coalition Government is available to keep the weekly collection.
It’s clear to me that Labour’s proposals are ill thought through, confused and unnecessary. What’s more, their claim that the move would save substantial amounts of local taxpayers simply doesn’t stack up.
If Liberal Democrats controlled the Council we would not be seeing these cuts to local waste collection services. We would apply to the £250m Government fund to help retain the weekly bin service and we would also continue with a garden waste recycling service.
The only reason Labour are going ahead with these plans is because they think they can blame it on somebody else. Instead of using the people of Sheffield as a political football, Labour councillors should start listening and reverse their decision.
Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed is Leader of the Lib Dem Group on Sheffield City Council.
This View Point originally appeared in The Star on January 26th 2012.
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