Speaking in the Senedd this afternoon, Clwyd West Assembly Member Darren Millar has called on the Welsh Government to intervene to prevent four weekly bin collections in Conwy county going ahead.
Earlier this year, despite strong opposition from residents, Conwy County Borough Council voted to scrap fortnightly bin collections in favour of three-weekly collections and decided to run a pilot of four-weekly pick-ups in one area of the county.
The monthly collections are currently being trialled throughout Conwy county at properties that have their collections made on Mondays – approximately 10,300 households – including Towyn and Kinmel Bay. Residual waste, which goes to landfill, is being collected every four weeks, with food waste and recycling collections remaining weekly.
Darren, who has been against the proposals from the start and led a petition calling for the proposals to be ditched, raised the matter in this week’s Business Statement in the Assembly.
He said:
“I’m disappointed that the Welsh Government are refusing to act to prevent four weekly bin collections being rolled out in Conwy. Residents have been dead set against the proposals since they were first announced and I have been doing everything in my power to make Conwy County Council reconsider, to no avail.
“The pilot is currently being carried out and is proving a nightmare for the residents affected. I appreciate the Council is keen to encourage recycling, but they are going the wrong way about it. I am very concerned that the changes will lead to fly-tipping, an increase in pest control problems, and potential public health risks from pet waste.
“Residents feel as though they are being ripped off by a Council which is cutting their services but not cutting their council tax bills to compensate them.
“We need the Welsh Government to listen to the concerns raised and intervene to ensure that four weekly collections do not go ahead.”