Call to scrap bin collection plan amid rat worries

Plans to change how rubbish is collected in one Welsh county have run into protests from residents and opposition councillors.

Three Rhondda Cynon Taf councillors have asked for the proposals to compel people to take black bags out of wheelie bins and leave them at the roadside to be examined again.

One protest petition claiming an "increased risk of attracting vermin such as seagulls and rats" has attracted more than 8,600 signatures, and another has collected more than 2,200 names.

The council has said the plans would improve the "streetscape" by removing the bins as obstructions.

The scheme has now been "called in" by the council, which means it will be considered by a special overview and scrutiny committee.

That committee could decide to send it back to the Labour council's cabinet to think again, or allow the plan to go ahead.

It is already in force in the Rhondda area, and this would extend it to the rest of the county.

Three councillors - representing Plaid Cymru, Conservatives and an independent - said there was a need to consider its negative impact on residents, waste collection and the environment.

Karen Morgan, Karl Johnson and David Evans also said a cost benefit analysis was needed, and argued that the decision was taken without consulting residents.

If it proceeds, residents will have the option to keep their wheelie bins to store black bags, with a maximum of three to be put out for collection at the kerbside every three weeks.

The cabinet also want to adjust the current winter green waste booking service to "improve operational efficiency" and keep the council's waste management strategy under review.

The changes would also see collections every three weeks from such buildings as schools and businesses.

The council said the changes would mean "improved recycling rates so that we hit the 70% Welsh government target" and its waste collection fleet would be more efficient, "including the use of other smaller vehicles to collect black bags if larger collection lorries are not able to access a street due to parked cars".

In addition, the council said it would remove "bins as obstructions in between collections from pavements", and "residents will not have to wheel or carry wheelie bins through their homes or up and down garden steps".