Residents demand bigger bins as fortnightly collections introduced in Adur and Worthing

A resident in Shoreham has demanded a bigger bin to help his family cope when fortnightly bin collections are introduced in Adur and Worthing.
Zaren Minton is demanding a bigger binZaren Minton is demanding a bigger bin
Zaren Minton is demanding a bigger bin

Zaren Minton, who lives with his wife and two sons, aged 22 and 17, said he was told by the council that only people in households with five or more people were permitted a larger size bin.

But he said his current bin would no longer be sufficient once fortnightly refuse collections commence on Monday, September 16.

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The 54-year-old, who lives in Shoreham’s Mansell Road, said: “Where am I going to put that extra rubbish if I can’t put it in the bin?”

Zaren Minton is demanding a bigger binZaren Minton is demanding a bigger bin
Zaren Minton is demanding a bigger bin

“It’s not going to work. But they don’t seem to care.

“At least give us a bigger bin.”

He said when he complained to the council, they had suggested sending someone round to help demonstrate how he could minimise his refuse waste – an idea he said was ‘insulting’ to his intelligence.

Mr Minton said he was just one of many people who would struggle under the new system.

Mr Minton with his binsMr Minton with his bins
Mr Minton with his bins

He believes fortnightly collections will lead to the area becoming ‘a mess’.

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“Someone has to speak out,” he said. “There’s going to be rubbish lying on the floor, rats running around everywhere.”

Gina Scotting, a councillor on Lancing Parish Council, was so incensed after similarly being refused a larger bin by the council that she wrote to Alex Bailey, chief executive of Adur and Worthing Councils.

She said in her letter: “When I tabled the question of what I should do if the bin is full and overflowing, nobody has deemed to come back to me.

“Adur has decided to reduce the collections and your residents pay for it through their rates, and as such would expect a reasonable service.

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“I am requesting a larger waste wheelie bin and I expect to receive one.

“If there is a logical reason for this, then explain it.

“You’ve made the decision without consultation to the population it’s going to affect and you haven’t put in place solutions to the growing waste over a fortnightly period.”

A spokesman for Adur and Worthing Councils said the councils’ first priority was to support residents to reduce waste.

“This is why we do visit residents at their request to do an audit of their waste,” the spokesman said.

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Residents we visit find the audit very useful for increasing recycling and reducing their waste.

“When we do the audits, we always find items in the general waste that the could have been recycled.

“We also encourage residents to squash items further to create more space and also to expel air from their rubbish bags before placing them in the wheelie bin.”

The decision to change to fortnightly refuse collections was first proposed in October last year.

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The councils said it was in order to boost recycling rates, which need to reach a government target of 50 per cent by 2020.

Financial prudence is also a secondary factor behind the proposal, the councils said, as with the system of recycling credits about to change, the councils could face the prospect of losing £250,000 a year – savings which would have to found elsewhere.

At the time, some opposition councillors accused the Tories of a ‘massive u-turn’ – seeing as the party had repeatedly hailed its success in protecting weekly collections in the past.

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In response, hundreds of residents took to the Herald’s Facebook to express their concerns about the collection changes.

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