Cllr Neil Sandison writes to the local papers about the Tory decision to stop Green bin collections at Christmas

Dear Editor,

The Green bin service should not have been stopped by the Conservative led Council without prior consultation.

A report to the Cabinet at Rugby Borough Council on 3 October 2016 recommended changes to Rugby's recycling services to be implemented as soon as 19 December. This is only 11 weeks away without any prior consultation from council tax payers in Rugby.

This means that the green food and garden waste bin recycling service will be stopped for 3 months despite the fact that we will see an increase in food waste and real Christmas tree disposal at the end of December when the festive season comes to an end.

Liberal Democrat Councillors are concerned that this decision could lead to an increase in fly tipping of waste into the natural environment and people will find alternative locations to dump waste if the green bins are not being emptied.

The Cabinet report said that a cross-party working group should be set up to look at all the options. Another problem is that local recycling services may not keep up with the growth plans for Rugby as set out in the Local Plan.

The Tory Council should be including the community in decisions that affect people's lives. Furthermore, as Rugby expands they should be pushing for community infrastructure levy contributions from developers to manage Rugby's growth and assist with recycling.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Neil Sandison

Rugby Liberal Democrats Deputy Group Leader