Council leaders have created an “environmental and public health crisis” through lack of action over bin strikes in South Gloucestershire, it is claimed. Waste has quickly piled up and recycling “bring banks” are overwhelmed as residents have no kerbside collections other than black bins, while one of the district’s four tips, Little Stoke, has had to shut because of a lack of staff, a situation set to last all summer because of a pay dispute.
Tory opposition leader Cllr Sam Bromiley posted photos on Twitter of rubbish left by residents at two recycling drop-off points in Cadbury Heath and Warmley and said residents deserved better. The Lib-Lab administration apologised and said it hoped talks between Unite the union and waste contractor Suez would resolve the deadlock. Cllr Liz Brennan (Conservative, Frenchay & Downend) told South Gloucestershire Council cabinet: “I fully acknowledge that the administration is not responsible for the strikes and that officers in the waste service are working incredibly hard to mitigate the effects.
“However, as we’ve seen from pictures of rubbish piled high, the delay in getting the temporary bins installed, the small number of sites that have been made available and the delay in emptying them has created an environmental and public health crisis.” Cllr Bromiley (Parkwal & Warmley) said in a statement to the meeting on Monday, July 10: “The temporary bins placed in Warmley and Cadbury Heath have been left to overfill
