Threat to stop paying council tax in bins row

Some Denbighshire residents have threatened to withhold paying council tax as they claim rubbish and recycling is left uncollected.

Residents have said that rubbish has been piling up since the launch of a new Trolibocs recycling system in June.

They also said that the uncollected rubbish and recycling was attracting rats, maggots and flies.

A Denbighshire council spokesman said there have been issues with the system in some areas which is tackling, but it would take recovery action if residents withheld council tax.

Bin collections were moved from monthly to fortnightly with recycling collected increased to weekly instead of fortnightly, but the roll-out has been beset by problems.

Denbighshire council chief executive Graham Boase has already apologised to residents after thousands of missed collections.

The council’s online reporting system is also reportedly suffering problems, and councillors and residents claim it has been impossible to efficiently report an issue.

But some residents said their rubbish was still not getting collected, and many claim they have now had enough.

Ian Jarvis, 56, who has lived in Waen since 2016 called the new system "shambolic".

“Driving to the Waen from the A55 is no longer a picturesque lane as it is littered with overflowing bins awaiting collection," he said.

Andy Jones, 59, from Tremeirchion, said since June they have had three bin collections.

"I pay £480 a month council tax, just for my property, and I pay for my daughter’s education, and the only thing I get from Denbighshire in my eyes is the bin collection.

"So I asked the question, could I cancel my council tax until these bins are sorted out? Legally I’m not allowed to because it’s a contract.

"Surely their collections are a contract they have with me as well, and nobody is doing anything about it,” he added.

Mike Pritchard, 58, of Marian Cwm near Dyserth, said there was a lot of frustration in the village, claiming unemptied bins have been left out for weeks at a time.

“Marian Cwm is only a small hamlet, but pretty much 100% of residents were really frustrated that we were getting no information about the service itself,” he said.

“We are in the middle of the countryside, so we expect to see mice and vermin, but there were definitely a little bit more of the four-legged furry animals around.”

He added: “Our council tax has gone up. We pay a lot of council tax up here. We get very little in terms of services because we are an off-the-beaten-track village.”

A council spokesman said the authority would take recovery action if residents withheld council tax.

He confirmed that there have been issues in specific locations and the council introduced a new process for missed collections from 12 August.

He said that "the service is generally much more on top of the daily scheduled collections across the county," but there were still "a number of persistent and repeated issues at specific locations".

The spokesman said the council was confident it would soon resolve the issues around repeated missed collections, and added: "We thank residents for their ongoing patience whilst we fully embed the new waste collection service."

He said residents had a legal obligation to pay council tax, and "it is not linked to any particular service or indeed the performance of any particular service".