“Sorry seems to be the hardest word” over bins fiasco say Tories

PRESSURE is growing on embattled Environment chief Cllr Victoria Holloway after residents endured a 5th week of the bin collection fiasco.

Thurrock Council’s new bin collection scheme has prompted widespread anger with thousands of residents suffering missed collections, despite Cllr Holloway’s promise of “same service, different day”. Having been forced to apologise for the fiasco on local radio, Cllr Holloway refused to commit to when the service would improve – but after five weeks of confusion and no sign of a normal service, an apology is not enough say the Tory opposition.

Conservative spokesman for the Environment, Cllr Simon Wootton said “Having been promised ‘same service, different day’, Cllr Holloway cannot be surprised that residents are angry at this mess in her department. These issues go well beyond teething problems, with over 100 roads still being missed, 5 weeks in.

“The entire fiasco has been handled poorly from day one. The council failed to tell some residents which day their bins would be collected, and then failed to collect as many as one in four bins on some days. Residents have struggled to report their bins being missed, and the council has failed to send out catch-up collections effectively, with residents going two or even three weeks without a collection.

“At this stage, sorry is not enough. Nobody wants their rubbish sitting outside in the heat we are enjoying at the moment, smelling awful and attracting flies. Cllr Holloway has refused to put a date on when the issue would be sorted, but she must know that this is an situation that can’t be allowed to continue for another month.

“Cllr Holloway needs to take charge and sort this issue out this week. If that’s not possible, she needs to consider whether she’s cut-out to run the important services we all rely on.”