Bin collection days to change after rollout issues

Residents are set to see their bins collected on different days in a bid to tackle problems in "hard to reach" rural areas.

East Suffolk Council introduced its Better Recycling Scheme in June in line with new government rules, but some people criticised the new set-up saying it took weeks for waste to be collected.

On Wednesday, the authority met to discuss changes and possible compensation for residents due to the issues during the rollout.

Councillors voted against compensation but deputy leader Paul Ashton said routes would be changed, adding "there is more that we want to do to make it better".

"We have designed new rounds because the existing ones are difficult to complete, and a disproportionate number of repeated collection issues are occurring in those hard to reach rounds."

In particular, Ashton said the council expected to see improvements in the south of the district on Wednesdays, admitting they had been "difficult to consistently complete so far".

Specific details on the days of the new collections have not yet been confirmed by the council.

He added that the council would now contact residents whose bin days were changing, stressing he wanted to get the new system "live as quickly as possible".

Ashton told the meeting new refuse workers had ben recruited.

Efforts were also being made to deal with issues around annual leave requests and managing sick leave - which he said had contributed to the issues earlier in the year.

The number of people contacting customer services had been "dramatically lower" than June. Ashton confirmed.

A motion calling for compensation was brought by the Conservatives and Labour groups, stating it would be a way of apologising to residents.

They called on the authority to consider a 0.2 per cent rebate on its share of council tax, amounting to £38,200 in total, or just 39p for the average Band D resident.

A total of 24 voted in favour, 24 against and one abstention, meaning the motion came down to Anthony Speca's casting vote as chairman, who maintained his opposition and turned it down.

Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.