Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has called on the Welsh Government to take action to ensure that domestic waste is collected on schedule.
This follows weeks of chaos faced by Denbighshire residents, in the wake of a new waste collection system introduced by the local authority, which has seen many residents being left without waste collections for weeks on end.
Speaking in the Senedd last week, Darren highlighted the significant increase in fly-tipping that had resulted from the lack of collections:
“Waste is going uncollected for up to seven weeks at some people's properties and, as a result of that, many people are taking action to get rid of the waste from their properties by breaking the law and dumping it on streets, next to public waste bins, and in alleyways.
“Clearly, that is unacceptable behaviour that needs to be addressed, but the root cause of this is the shambolic operation of that new recycling system.
“What action is the Welsh Government taking to make sure that people get their waste collected frequently, on schedule without the sort of problems that residents in Denbighshire are having to face?”
In response, the Cabinet Secretary said:
“The Welsh Government's expert advisers from WRAP Cymru and local partnership are providing Denbighshire County Council with advice and practical support, and this includes identifying and rectifying the uncollected waste and associated litter problems caused by the recent changes.
“This support will continue until the matter is resolved, and we continue to monitor the situation.”
He added that:
“The pains that Denbighshire are going through are not dissimilar from pains that other local authorities have gone through on the journey to taking us to the point of being second in the world in recycling.”
Commenting afterwards, Darren said:
“I’m very disappointed at the Cabinet Secretary’s dismissal of the concerns of Denbighshire residents in this way.
“Denbighshire already achieved higher recycling rates, under its much simpler blue bin system, than many other Welsh local authorities that had switched to the new system.
“Denbighshire and the Welsh Government should listen to local residents and get a grip of the situation.”