A NEW hardline stance on refuse collections has provoked fury among Moray residents.
Binmen will no longer return to empty uncollected buckets – even if the householder is not to blame for them being missed in the first place.
The measure will be introduced next month in an attempt to save Moray Council up to £20,000 a year.
The local authority says it costs taxpayers £25 on average every time a crew is sent to empty a bin that a householder has reported as unemptied.
Councillor John Cowe, who chairs the council’s economic development and infrastructure services committee, said: “Unfortunately, we receive an average of 12-15 calls a week from residents reporting missed bin collections.
“While some reports of missed bins are genuine, it has become evident that many reports of missed collections are not actually missed at all.
“The position is that if bins are not put out on time, they will not be collected.”
The policy change has been unveiled amid a drive by Moray Council to slash its budget by £20million over the next three years.
A number of libraries have been axed, a plan to close public toilets is on hold and the future of schools and sports facilities is under review.
Mr Cowe insisted central government cuts were to blame for the latest round of cost-cutting.
“The costs of returning for missed bins are significantly more than those associated with a scheduled collection,” he said.
“With government cuts at an unprecedented level, it is unreasonable that the council spends such amounts of money on missed collections.”
The new rules will come into force on Monday, February 3.
If a bin is missed – for whatever reason – no excess waste will be picked up until the next scheduled collection day.
Instead, it will be the householder’s responsibility to have the bin emptied.
A spokesman for the local authority said return visits would be made only in “exceptional circumstances”, such as snow or a blocked street. The council now empties bins and recycling containers from 42,000 properties across the region. The official kerbside policy already states that binmen will not return to uncollected bins. However, as financial pressures increase, it has now decided to enforce this stance strictly.
Elgin Community Councillor Jim Wiseman said last night: “We only get bins emptied once a fortnight in Moray, so my question would be what do we do with the rubbish that is not collected because of the new policy. Are they going to pick up four weeks’ worth of garbage – but where will the resident have kept if for four weeks?
“Another concern I have is regarding vulnerable people in our communities. Are they going to be left to wallow in their rubbish for weeks on end?
“Most people are happy with the fortnightly collection, but where is the sense in leaving it for four weeks in any circumstances.”