WEEKLY BIN COLLECTIONS SAFE UNDER LIB DEMS SAYS RAJAN (Southwark Liberal Democrats)

Southwark Liberal Democrats <info@southwark-libdems.org.uk>

WEEKLY BIN COLLECTIONS SAFE UNDER LIB DEMS SAYS RAJAN

April 25, 2007 12:00 AM

Cllr Lisa Rajan, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Environment on Southwark Council, has confirmed that the council will not end weekly bin collections in the borough unless such a change is wanted by residents.

Cllr Rajan's statement comes amid much press speculation about moves to bi-weekly collections. The Labour Party has proposed fortnightly collections in many parts of the country.

"In councils across the UK, Labour has moved to fortnightly collections or is proposing to do so," said Cllr Lisa Rajan. "I want to make it quite clear that the Liberal Democrats in Southwark have no plans to change the frequency of bin collections and would not contemplate a change unless it was supported by residents."

"Labour run councils such as Reading, Corby and Barnsley have moved to bi-weekly collections and the Labour Party in inner city areas like Liverpool is campaigning for such a change. I challenge Labour's Environment Spokesperson Cllr Alison McGovern to state that she would not bring in such plans in Southwark if they were in charge."

"Our success in increasing recycling rates in Southwark has meant that there is less waste to be collected each week. But we are not proposing to wait until bins are full before we will collect them. We believe that will lead to more mess on our streets and will raise concerns about hygiene and vermin."