Wirral Council Leader Breaks Ranks on Three-Weekly Bin Plan
Wirral Council's own leader says she does not support her authority's plan to collect green bins only every three weeks. Cllr Paula Basnett told the Echo her position is clear: she wants fortnightly collections kept.
What the council is proposing
The council is running a public consultation on moving green bin collections to every three weeks. In Wirral, the green bin takes general household waste that cannot be recycled. At present it is emptied every fortnight.
The council says weekly food waste collections have changed how people use their green bins. They fill them less often.
The bins also no longer hold food waste, which can cause smells.
Opposition inside and outside the council
Cllr Basnett said: "I am in favour of retaining fortnightly household waste collections and do not support proposals to move to three-weekly collections." She added that she believes a reliable and regular waste service matters to residents and that she wants it protected.
The Wirral Labour group, the largest on the council, has also asked the council to drop the idea and has started a petition. It says a three-weekly service would be inadequate for many homes, and singles out families with children, big households and the elderly or disabled, who rely on regular collections.
The petition accepts that councils are short of money. It asks Wirral to find other ways to save before it touches a service it says every household in the borough relies on.
Residents have also reacted. After the Echo covered the proposals, comments on its Facebook page were overwhelmingly negative. One resident, Vicki Ackerley, asked what would happen to nappies, sanitary products and adult incontinence products that cannot go in the food waste bin and belong in the green bin. She said three weeks is too long.
The council's case
A council spokesperson said Wirral, like many other authorities, has to lift recycling to meet national targets and send less waste for disposal. That is why it is reviewing its waste services, aiming to keep standards while saving money.
The council looked at alternatives, including swapping every household's green bin for a smaller one for non-recyclable waste and leaving the collection schedule as it is. It said replacing all the bins across the borough would mean significant costs and disruption.
The spokesperson called three-weekly collections the most cost-effective option to explore. The council expects the plan to save around £1.2m a year and avoid heavy extra costs for disposing of non-recyclable waste.
Councillors will take a final decision in 2027, after reports and recommendations informed by residents' feedback.
Source: Liverpool Echo