Was petition ignored by the council? (From Warrington Guardian)

Was petition ignored by the council?

A PETITION against the fortnightly waste collection system containing more than 3,000 signatures was allegedly ignored by Vale Royal Borough Council.

Clr Brian Lloyd, Labour group leader for Vale Royal Borough Council, commissioned the petition when the plans for the recycling scheme were first announced.

The petition was then delivered in person by Clr Lloyd to Noel O'Neill, director of corporate and economic affairs at Vale Royal Borough Council.

Clr Lloyd said: "I handed the petition over to Mr O'Neill and he said 'What's the point because the decision has already been made?' and I have not heard anything more about it since then."

According to Clr Lloyd, the reason the petition was ignored is because Vale Royal Borough Council will only accept individual letters of complaint.

He said: "They would have you believe that people who don't write letters are happy with the scheme - and unless the word complaint is used it is categorised as an enquiry."

Clr Keith Musgrave, leader of Vale Royal Borough Council, does not believe there is a widespread feeling of objection.

He said: "The call to return to a weekly collection by a number of residents is being monitored by the council in relation to the number of people who have called to support the scheme and national and local trends."

Clr Lloyd believes the level of feeling against the fortnightly collection scheme is just as strong now as it was when he first organised the petition.

He added: "It's the arrogance of the council to say 'you will recycle'. I think they mistrust people more than they need to."

A spokesman for the borough council said: "At Vale Royal Borough Council's full council meeting on November 27, 2003, the motion to retain a weekly refuse collection service was defeated. At the meeting Clr Lloyd referred members to a 1,893 named petition, which called for the council to urgently reconsider and withdraw the proposal to reduce the collection of domestic waste from a weekly to a fortnightly service."

phennessey@guardiangrp.co.uk