The agenda and supporting papers for Tuesday’s Council meeting dropped with a heavier than usual thump on the mat earlier in the week. There are several matters of significance to debate, including whether to proceed further in investigating the viability of closer co-operation, or a merger, with Mid Suffolk DC. I notice however that no sandwiches are being provided, so it is expected that we will get through everything by one p.m.
Our new Labour colleague, Tony Bavington, is already making his presence felt. He has given notice of his intention to move a Motion at the meeting. Firstly he is proposing that during the hot summer months black bin household waste be collected weekly (rather than fortnightly), and secondly that Babergh plan to introduce weekly collection of food waste (separate from other residual waste) for compost.
I am not sure exactly whether these issues will come to a vote, and of course I will be open minded and listen carefully to Councillor Bavington’s arguments in favour of his ideas. However, he will have to be very persuasive in the face of some well known hard facts. The objections to some degree come down to affordability, since it has been estimated that the additional work would cost around £110,000 (an additional 2% or so on Council tax). It would also however have an adverse impact on Babergh’s excellent level of recycling under the current system since less recycled material could be collected due to lack of capacity to collect both blue and black bins in one week.
As far as weekly food waste collection is concerned, this was looked at a couple of years ago by Babergh, and is, I believe, still an aspiration, but the additional collection vehicles that would be necessary were deemed to be unaffordable at the time. Given our current financial situation I doubt if this has changed. This is a pity, but it is still possible for many residents to obtain a cut price composting bin from Babergh and start to produce their own compost. I have noticed personally that doing this dramatically reduces the amount that I throw into my black bin, and also provides lovely stuff for the garden.
I posted a comment on the blog when the bin arrived on 14th July 2007,and republish the picture that accompanied it below:
