Our streets are overrun by army of rats & stinking bins left to rot for a MONTH – bonkers council plan is hellish

LOCALS fear their streets are being overrun by an “army of rats” and their stinking bins left to rot under a “bonkers” new council plan.

Disgruntled residents in Bristol claim their city is already swimming in rubbish and the new policy, which is on the brink of approval, will make matters even worse.

Jon RowleyBristol locals say there bins are already overflowing[/caption]

Jon RowleyEllie, 43, said the idea was ‘bonkers’[/caption]

If waved through, it will see the frequency of bin collections decreased to just once every four weeks.

Almost 10,000 of the city’s 760,000 inhabitants have come together to sign a petition against the switch – with some even considering taking matters into their own hands.

One local, university worker Ellie, 42, told The Sun: “It’s always like this, even though we currently have fortnightly, not monthly, collections, so what the heck is it going to be like when they’ve been left out for another two weeks.

“We’ve already got a rat problem here, but with the rubbish left lying around – whether it’s in the home or out on the street – it’s going to horrendous.

“There will be rats everywhere and that will bring infestation and disease, potentially.

“We’ve had rats in our home. I can hear them beneath the floorboards and the other day I saw one in our lounge. The neighbours have rats too.

“I’ve signed the petition and I urge the council to think again about this bonkers idea.”

Ellie, who works in the marketing and communications and department at Bristol University, added: “I used to live in London and we had one bin for recycling and another for general waste, so it was fairly quick and easy to sort it, and we could just leave it out for the collection team to sort through and separate the waste on the street.

“Then when I moved here eight years ago, it was three different recycling bins and we have to sort it ourselves, which takes quite a bit of time. Now they want us to not only sort through every piece of waste, but also to then leave it all hanging around for four weeks.”

Abstract artist Ronnie, 69, says he plans to buy a £125 digital compactor to reduce the volume of rubbish stored at his home if the policy is implemented.

He said: “It’s a lot of money for people to find, but I don’t see any other solution.

“Maybe the council should provide us all with a compactor with all the money they say they’ll be saving on collections.”

The once-a-month collections would aim to “to boost recycling” and cut costs of around £2.3m, the council has said.

Ronnie added: “A month between collections is just too long. I can remember it being once a week and that was as it should be.

“I’m happy to recycle, but I don’t want waste lying around for four weeks. We already have a rat problem here and this is going to cause a massive rodent issue.

“I recycle everything I can and put it out but often they don’t collect it all.

“Last week they left the cardboard I’d carefully recycled. What’s the point, if they can’t even be bothered to collect it. There’s always plenty they leave behind.”

Retired business analyst Kevin, 64, said that because he lives alone, he does not expect to be too affected by the switch to monthly collections, but has sympathy for larger households.

He said: “There’s a family next door to me with six in the house so what the heck are they going to do with all the waste that will be generated over the course of a month?

Jon RowleyPiled-up rubbish in Bristol[/caption]

Jon RowleyBins are currently collected every two weeks in the city[/caption]

Jon RowleyRonnie, 69, said the policy would cause a ‘massive rodent issue’[/caption]

“It will be overflowing everywhere and that presents a potential health hazard.”

Another resident, teacher Geoff, 58, said he fears the waste will attract “an army of rats”.

He said: “If we aren’t having it collected for a month, rubbish will be piled up in the street because there’ll be no room in the bins for more. That will attract even more rats.

“It’s a bonkers idea and it needs to be abandoned.”

Others fear an explosion of fly-tipping, where people dump rubbish in public areas because they no longer have room to store their waste.

One, retired hospital worker Connie, 60, said: “People are just going to illegally dump their rubbish wherever they can.

“Once a month is crazy. It’s another sign of the UK going downhill, I’m afraid. It’s going to create a mess in this beautiful city.”

Student Eli, 18, described the plans as “ridiculous”, even though he is always happy to recycle.

He said: “I recognise it’s essential that we all recycle all our waste. It’s what my generation have grown up with so it’s almost automatic, but the council has a responsibility to collect it before it starts piling up.

“Four weeks between collections is way too long. It’s just gross.

Jon Rowley10,000 locals have signed a petition against the policy[/caption]

Jon RowleyEli, 18, described monthly collections as ‘gross’[/caption]

Jon RowleyIt would aim to ‘boost recycling’[/caption]

“We’ll be overrun with rats and that will cause horrific problems.”

Culver, 27, who works at Bristol Law Centre, said: “I can understand the need to make a financial saving, but if it creates a rat epidemic, it will cost more in the long run.

“Four weeks is just too long. The bins at the block of flats where I live are always overflowing by the end of the fortnight, so I dread to think what it will be like after a month.”

Opposition councillors have demanded a focus on improving the existing bin collection service, rather than implementing monthly collections.

In their justification for the plans, the ruling Greens on Bristol City Council pointed to the looming imposition of a carbon tax on the disposal of waste.

They say moving to a monthly bin collection would avoid nearly £1.5m of future carbon tax costs, while a collection every three weeks would save nearly £1m.

An increasing number of councils across Britain have already moved to three-weekly collections for general waste, with many citing the need to cut carbon emissions.

If Bristol City Council pushes ahead with its four-weekly plan, it will spark fears that other cash-strapped local authorities might also be encouraged to implement monthly waste collections.

The council’s deputy leader, Green Party councillor Heather Mack, said: “There’s due to be a tax on the residual waste we send to be processed, for the carbon in that.

“So we really need to consider how much we’re sending and where else could it go.

“We would also offer larger bins for larger households, and an extra collection for people with sanitary products or nappies, so we don’t want people to unduly struggle with this.”

The public consultation on the potential changes will run until March 10.

The council said the city currently recycles around 45 per cent of household waste, but warned the rate is dropping.

The proposed changes would “put us on a path to meet a national target of recycling 65 per cent of our city’s waste by 2035″, the council added.

Tom Renhard, leader of the Labour group on Bristol City Council, said: “There needs to be a focus on sorting out the existing service.

“I’m getting an increasing number of complaints from local residents across the city that recycling isn’t being collected and black bins aren’t being collected on [the current] two-weekly basis.

“Some of my residents haven’t had a recycling collection this side of Christmas.

“You’re also starting to see that if residents’ recycling isn’t getting collected and it’s piling up, they’re going to put it in the bin, which isn’t going to help recycling rates.”

The Sun has contacted Bristol City Council for comment.

Jon RowleyThe council has said the switch would save £2.3m in costs[/caption]

Jon RowleySome residents are considering purchasing their own compactors[/caption]

Jon RowleyA public consultation on the potential changes will run until March 10[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]