Claims of an 'environmental and public health crisis' over South Glocs bin strikes
The Lib-Lab administration has apologised and said it hoped talks between Unite the union and waste contractor Suez would resolve the deadlock
Last updated 13th Jul 2023
Council leaders have created an “environmental and public health crisis” through lack of action over bin strikes in South Gloucestershire, it is claimed.
Waste has quickly piled up and recycling “bring banks” are overwhelmed as residents have no kerbside collections other than black bins, while one of the district’s four tips, Little Stoke, has had to shut because of a lack of staff, a situation set to last all summer because of a pay dispute.
Tory opposition leader Cllr Sam Bromiley posted photos on Twitter of rubbish left by residents at two recycling drop-off points in Cadbury Heath and Warmley and said residents deserved better.
The Lib-Lab administration apologised and said it hoped talks between Unite the union and waste contractor Suez would resolve the deadlock.
Cllr Liz Brennan (Conservative, Frenchay & Downend) told South Gloucestershire Council cabinet: “I fully acknowledge that the administration is not responsible for the strikes and that officers in the waste service are working incredibly hard to mitigate the effects.
“However, as we’ve seen from pictures of rubbish piled high, the delay in getting the temporary bins installed, the small number of sites that have been made available and the delay in emptying them has created an environmental and public health crisis.”
Cllr Bromiley (Parkwal & Warmley) said in a statement to the meeting on Monday, July 10: “The temporary bins placed in Warmley and Cadbury Heath have been left to overfill
“The current situation is disgraceful and residents are angry.
“Rats, foxes and seagulls have torn bags apart.
“The wind has blown plastic and rubbish onto nearby roads, gardens and play parks.
“Nearby residents look out their window and are faced with a sea of rubbish.
“Today Suez workers not striking are having to work hard to compensate for the council’s poor planning and delivery rather than out collecting bins.
“What immediate action will you take to clean up and clear the areas, and ensure the bins are not left to overfill again?”
Cllr Rachael Hunt (Conservative, Emersons Green) asked for a 24/7 drop-off point in the north of the county because sites were open only weekday working hours, so some residents were “disproportionately affected”.
She said: “In Lyde Green we had residents clearly frustrated, understandably, leaving additional bags after the lorries had gone home, but also about storing an increased amount of recycling and food waste in their homes.
“My labour colleague in Emersons Green, Cllr Katrina Al-Hassan, has expressed concerns online about rats in her garden, so people are getting quite nervous about this.”
Service director Mark King said the council’s 25-year PFI contract was “unique”.
He said: “It’s not a normal contractual relationship.
“Suez, under the contract, delivers collections, Sort It and disposal of waste, and crucially carries all the risk associated with the service.
“In normal circumstances, we would be able to issue a non-compliant incident (NCI), so a fine on Suez, for not collecting bins on a regular basis.
“However, there are no measures within the contract to allow us to issue an NCI during an industrial dispute, provided that Suez informs us and ‘keeps us informed of the situation, uses its best endeavours to ensure continued provision of the service and pay for any out-of-pocket expenses that the council incurs’.
“That includes the issue with disposal costs that we may incur.
“Before the dispute started we didn’t know how many people would present on the day of the action.
“We had about 100 people present to work, out of 250 frontline staff, so that’s a big proportion but not enough to warrant the whole service back in order.
“We agreed we would collect the black bin refuse, service the flats, schools and care homes, collect medical and clinical waste, we’re manning the Sort It centres at Yate, Mangotsfield and Thornbury but unfortunately we had to shut the one at Stoke Gifford because we couldn’t get the workforce – we haven’t got the numbers.
“We subsequently brought on the “bring” sites at Filton, Stoke Gifford, Lyde Green, Staple Hill and Yate and they are collecting about 10 tonnes a day, so a considerable amount of recycling is being done by our residents at those sites.
“We’ve also got two unmanned “bring” sites at The Batch and the Warmley community centres – they are causing us problems because that’s where people are going and dumping and it has been difficult for us and Suez to keep on top of what is effectively fly-tipping at those sites, but we are reviewing those sites with Suez.
“On top of that, Suez are trying to get more agency staff in to support the service and we’re working with them to try to plan weeks in advance.
“Fly-tips currently are stable, we haven’t seen an uplift in fly-tips, although we recognise we have fly-tipping at the ‘bring’ sites.
“Looking forward we are trying to get assisted collections back on track and we hope to do that fairly quickly.
“We do want another ‘bring’ site in the north to replace the Little Stoke issue.
“We recognise the issue with food and we are trying to resurrect the food collection service.”
Replying to opposition criticism, cabinet member Cllr Leigh Ingham (Labour, Kingswood) said: “You asked for an apology, and every time we make communication we are apologising for the inconvenience.
“It’s not something we want to have to go through and we are happy to apologise for the inconvenience, that’s not a problem at all.
“You stated that the contingency plans were inadequate and not suitable for the situation we’re in.
“We are following your contingency plans from the last administration”
Read more: Unite Union slams South Glocs Council's open letter over bin strikes