Council keen to see improvement in waste service

As the barrage of complaints which followed the introduction of Rother's kerbside recycling scheme and its attendant alternate weekly collection continues unabated, Cllr Carl Maynard has also said that while, ultimately, Rother bears responsibility for the service, it is only fair that Verdant should accept its responsibility when its service is poor.

On Monday he issued an apology to the public.

The leader has continued to respond to angry taxpayers who have been plying him with questions via his Ask The Leader slot on the www.rother.gov.uk website.

One questioner said: "The collection schedule for both waste rubbish and recyclables is a complete shambles.

"On June 4 everything was fine, ie the black wheelie bin was collected and then suddenly it all changed after that.

"We had another black wheelie bin day on June 11 but this wasn't collected until the next day and today the recyclables weren't collected.

"To add injury to insult, the dedicated call centre is just another faceless messaging service without a response.

"It seems to me that everything is just one way traffic and the populace aren't given any consideration.

"I'd like to think that I am getting something for my money here but service doesn't seem to exist. Is it too much to expect a schedule to be adhered to and some sort of organisational aptitude to be attained?"

The leader said: "The most common reason why collections have not been made is due to the need for your bin and boxes to be available at the edge of your property curtilage.

"Collections are no longer being made from closer to your property and if you have a long drive but have been leaving your items for collection close to your house then this may explain why.

"In some cases confusion has been caused by the bin distribution company leaving your new bin and boxes at a point not recognised by the collection crews.

"They made collections in the first week of the new scheme but should have left a note for you to explain where future collections would be made.

"If you are certain that you have been leaving items for collection at the correct place then please let us know, using the Contact Us facility on our website.

"The councilexpected some disruption and inconvenience due to the new scheme and so we employed additional staffing resources to cope with theanticipated increase in the number of telephone calls, emails and letters.

"Verdant's performance since the first week of the new scheme has resulted in vastly more calls, emails and letters than was forecast and whilst further staffing resources have been brought in, calls are going through to voicemail when lines are busy.

"Your expectations of a scheduled service are not unreasonable but this is only the second cycle of the new collection scheme.

"The council is unhappy with the level of service being provided and regular meetings are being held with Verdant to achieve improvement in the level of service as soon as possible.

"I anticipate that it may yet take another two to three weeks for all of the problems to be resolved.Verdant assure us that they are taking all necessary action to adapt their operations in order to resolve the problems."