Litter bins to be emptied less regularly across Wiltshire, by Local Democracy Reporter Jude Holden

LITTER bins across the county will be emptied less frequently under new Wiltshire Council plans.

The cut back is part of the council’s new budget, which will see a reduction on services for other aspects of Wiltshire’s appearance including grass cutting.

The council said in a scrutiny committee question session, “This proposal is for the reduction in litter bin emptying to achieve improve service efficiencies for example, not emptying a bin if it is only a quarter full.”

They added they would be scaling back on responding to litter complaints.

A spokesman said the council would be, “Moving to statutory level responding to litter complaints. The council’s local standards for response remains better than statutory requirements.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Gavin Grant said, “One of the concerns here is this is the highest council tax increase in the council’s history I’m pretty sure.

“At the same time services are being cut back, very practical services like street cleaning, bins and cutting grass. A lot of residents are going to wonder why they’re paying extra and getting less.”

Council Leader Richard Clewer said in response, “We have had to make some difficult decisions in this budget. The changes to our litter collection are in line with the government guidance standards, which ensure equitable service levels across the country.

“We are making changes to make our services as efficient as possible, for example at the moment we empty all our bins on the same schedule, instead we will now identify how frequently those bins actually become full and only empty them when we know they need emptying, we are also investing in new technologies so we can make better use of data.

“This will enable a more seamless reporting process, quicker collection of litter, and reduce CO2 emissions from waste collection vehicles. We will also be looking at a new campaign to reduce littering over the next two years.

“We will also be embedding our revised grass cutting programme, which sees suitable areas only cut twice a year – once in March and once in September to boost biodiversity, particularly for wildflowers and insects.