Green waste

I DON’T know about anyone else but I am really fed up with no green waste collection.

Don’t tell me to start a compost heap, because I’ve already got one and it’s overflowing, plus I’ve got several black bags and a green wheelie bin full of garden waste.

I really don’t understand why the new regime at CDC is having so much trouble getting this rolled out in the Cotswolds.

Our area is the ONLY area in Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire not receiving this service and it is very much missed. Excuses from the Lib Dems range from climate change to difficulty in recruiting and training new staff.

However, MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said in his live-stream from The Barn Theatre that he had spoken to the CEO of Ubico, who had confirmed that there are plenty of vehicles and Ubico are able to get extra staff.

Our MP was also told that training takes about four weeks.

We have been without a green waste collection for over four weeks now, so if CDC had thought ahead and had better management of the service, the training could have been completed by now and the Cotswolds could be getting the service that all other areas are receiving.

When the Conservative regime first introduced the service as part of the kerbside recycling, they managed it very well and it cost only £30 for a WEEKLY collection.

At the time, the opposition Lib Dems ranted and raved about the £30 per annum fee. Now those same protesters are proposing to initially charge £35 (going up annually to £45) for a FORTNIGHTLY collection in the summer and absolutely no collection at all in the winter.

That is a four-fold increase when we do eventually get the service!

I am sure I read somewhere in their election manifesto that the Lib Dems promised that if they won the election, they would continue a weekly service. Now they are going back on their promise and suspending a service that many people in the Cotswolds want. Have the Lib Dems conducted an open and transparent review about this? Indeed, have they conducted any review? As a party that prided itself on listening to the wishes of residents, they are now completely ignoring them.

The problem is getting worse every week and the Standard has reported that there is a 300% increase in fly-tipping.

If the Conservative Government can arrange to build hospitals in nine days, then surely the CDC Lib Dems can arrange to collect our green waste?

Chris Roberts

Fairford