A LOCAL community group has accused Wiltshire Council of penny pinching after it removed two rubbish bins next to the Forest community centre.
For over 20 years the bins had been regularly emptied by Wiltshire Council but just before Christmas the service stopped, leaving the bins to overflow. Wiltshire Council say it is the community centre that is responsible for emptying the bins and has now removed them after the community centre refused to take on the responsibility.
Now, litter and dog mess is being left on the ground where the bins used to be and local residents are not happy.
Local residents Mr and Mrs Cooper told the Melksham News, “Like many other people, we regularly use the green area to walk our dogs and have always used the bins provided for our dog poo bags. But now the bins have been taken away, we take the poo bags with us.
“But there are some people that aren’t taking it with them to dispose of, they are just leaving it where the bins used to be. And it’s not just dog poo bags, there’s a lot of rubbish being left.
“It is absolutely awful and before long, the nice field which so many people enjoy and take care of, will be ruined.”
Vic Oakman, chairman of the community centre, received an email from Wiltshire Council earlier this month requesting that the bins are emptied immediately following complaints to the council.
Vic said, “Wiltshire Council has been emptying the bins for over 20 years and then out of the blue I get an email from them asking me to do it. I was shocked.”
Wiltshire Council said that they stopped paying for bins to be emptied on private land in 2013 and did send letters to those affected explaining this. But for some reason the contractor had continued to empty the bins, although they weren’t meant to, and Wiltshire Council was unaware of this.
Vic said, “I swear on the Holy Bible, I never received a letter in 2013 about the bins, otherwise I would have done something about it then. This is the first I’ve heard about the matter and that is the truth.
“It’s just another example of the council penny pinching and passing on their responsibilities. They waste such a huge amount of money on things we don’t even want, like the changes to Farmers Roundabout, but they can’t afford to empty two bins once a fortnight.
“Most of the rubbish isn’t rubbish from people who use the community centre. There’s McDonald’s rubbish and cans of beer that we don’t even sell. And people from the nearby houses actually bring their rubbish from home to put in the bin. I refused to empty the bins, so Wiltshire Council took them away.
“It’s a shame, but I don’t think we should be responsible for public rubbish.”
