THE BOROUGH’S weekly bin collections are safe until 2026 according to the Conservatives.
The ruling party announced that a recent consultation saw more than nine in 10 residents say that they wanted the current cycle kept rather than move to a fortnightly system as used in other local authorities.
And the Conservatives added that more than half of people who responded to the phone survey said that they would not mind paying more Council Tax to maintain the service.
In a statement released yesterday, the party said that by keeping the weekly system, despite severe financial pressures, Wokingham Borough Council would avoid the example of neighbouring councils such as Reading.
The survey of residents revealed that 92% said that “Maintaining the current service in its current form” was important.
As a result, the party felt that it had to follow residents’ views.
Cllr Angus Ross, Executive Member for Environment, said: “Our residents have spoken, and we have heard them.
“Other councils have moved to fortnightly collection, or even longer. Our sound financial management means that we have been able to retain weekly waste collection.
“We are actively seeking ways to recycle new products and materials, and new initiatives on communication with residents – all aimed at increasing our recycling rate towards the 50% target set nationally for 2020.
“All this demonstrates that the Borough’s weekly bin collection is safe under the Conservatives.”
The leader of Wokingham’s Liberal Democrats has welcomed the news, but has warned the council not to become complacent.
Cllr Lindsay Ferris, who represents Twyford, said he was pleased the collections would remain as a weekly service, but said the council needed to do more in terms of recycling.
He said: “This is good news for now, but the contract is up for renewal in 2019 so we will have to keep on top of the council to make sure the weekly collections remain in place.
“The Liberal Democrats are very concerned that Wokingham is falling short of its recycling target, we have recently fallen down the list of recycling performance from 40th to 202nd which is just not good enough.
“We will continue to push the council to reassess the ways it recycles plastics and glass, and to look further into kerbside glass recycling as a lot of bottle banks are at the mercy of supermarkets who can decide to get rid of them, which is what we have seen in Twyford.”
