Festive bin collections in West Dunbartonshire have been thrown in to turmoil after the local authority failed to convince waste collection workers to ‘volunteer’ to work between Christmas and new year.
On Thursday morning, West Dunbartonshire Council announced it had revised its bin collection schedule over the festive period, meaning collections will be delayed by a fortnight, due to “workforce resource challenges”.
Residents whose bins were due to be collected on Christmas day, Boxing day and New Year’s day were initially told that they would be emptied that weekend. However, the council has now advised that they will not be uplifted until at least January 8.
The move comes after WDC had already placed tags on resident’s wheelie bins advising of the revised festive schedule.
The Lennox understands that the “workforce resource challenges” cited by the council relates to none of its waste collection staff offering to work on those days, forcing council chiefs into a u-turn.
The council says that each festive period it relies on waste collection workers ‘volunteering’ to work to ease the festive backlog. However, this Christmas none of the staff came forward to volunteer.
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A spokesperson for WDC said: “As is normal over the festive period, we seek volunteers to work additional days in order to clear the backlog from public holidays.
“This year, no volunteers have come forward and therefore it is not possible to have collections on additional days. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes residents whose bin collections are affected.”
The Lennox also understands that the rate of pay being offered to the workforce to work on those days remained at the same rate as in recent years.
The change means that bins due to be collected on Christmas day will not be collected until Wednesday, January 8; those collected on Boxing day won’t be emptied until Thursday, January 9. Bins due for collection on January 1 will now have to wait until Wednesday, January 15, and those set for January 2 will now happen on Thursday, January 16.
Sharing the news on its social media channels, the council came under fire for the move, with the post attracting more than 430 comments in less than six hours.
One person said: “Unacceptable, one month between collections at arguably the time of year when most people generate waste. Brown bin charges introduced and not for a full year and now monthly at Christmas. Does that mean a rebate on council tax as a loss of essential service?”
Another said: “So what exactly is the reason for this? It’s the busiest month in the year and you’ve now pulled this six days before Xmas. No point putting out notifications without giving a full explanation although I won’t hold my breath waiting for that.”
Another added: “So the very year residents get charged for brown bin collections is the year we get a reduced service over Christmas? Here’s an idea, how about the council uses some of that extra cash generated and pay the bin men a decent rate to come out because we all know that’s the real reason behind the lack of resource is the lack of financial incentive.”