South Gloucestershire Conservatives have warned that the district faces a “summer of stink” unless the new Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition acts to limit disruption to the waste service.
It follows news this week that the current strikes by the SUEZ, South Gloucestershire Council’s waste contractors, will be ongoing until September. The strike action was initially due to end on 9 July but will now continue until 3 September.
With this summer set to be one of the hottest on record, the Conservatives fear that rubbish uncollected for weeks on end will create enormous public health problems, with elderly and disabled people being most seriously affected.
The disruption could also hit isolated communities and people living in rural villages who are not easily able to get to the district’s recycling centres.
The administration urgently needs to introduce mitigating actions and issue communications to residents explaining what these are in order to provide reassurance.
Cllr Rachael Hunt, Conservative Shadow Cabinet Member for Communities and Local Place, said: “This year South Gloucestershire will be faced with a summer of stink unless the administration introduces mitigation measures as quickly as possible.
“We have already received numerous correspondence from residents concerned about the current strikes, and people are going to be extremely worried about the effects on public health if the strikes continue until September.
“This summer is set to be even hotter than last year and elderly and infirm people are likely to need all the support they can get. The last thing they need is to be surrounded by piles of uncollected rubbish creating horrible smells and causing a public health hazard.
“Today I am calling on members of the coalition to identify how they plan to ensure the waste and recycling service continues over the summer and to issue communications to residents who understandably will be feeling very anxious.”
The Conservatives fear that the strikes, which will leave bins unemptied for weeks on end, are a foretaste of what’s to come under the coalition’s long term plans for the waste and recycling service, with members considering reducing the frequency of black bin collections and charging people to recycle at the waste centres.
