Council agrees to spend £5k extra on dog bin collections
Overflowing bins have been seen Picture: Marc Aplin - Credit: Archant
Almost £5,000 more than expected will be spent on clearing dog bins.
A lack of collections and overflowing bins have been seen across Weston, Worle, and Hutton over the past six months.
MORE: Dog bins left overflowing after contractor 'completely failed'.
Dog bins were previously emptied by North Somerset Council for £1 per bin but in 2013 the authority gave notice to town and parish councils that service would not continue.
Kent-based contractor Bin-It Ltd had its contract terminated by Weston Town Council after the provider 'completely failed' in its waste collection role and a troubled December resulted in no collections and overflowing bins.
Bleadon-based Greenways Grounds Maintenance took over in January, who previously served a number of parish councils including Winscombe, Banwell and Wick St Lawrence.
The contract with Greenways was subject to a three-month review, but due to increased waste disposal costs, the price of the service for the remainder of the year will be £5.30 per bin, which is lower than alternative quotes.
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The town council's 2019/20 budget set aside £15,462 for waste removal based on Bin-It Ltd's price, but the increase has led to an overspend of £4,733.
Committee members agreed at a policy and finance meeting on Monday to approve the overspend and enter into a renewed contract with Greenways until March 2020.
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Cllr Robert Payne said: "This has been a problem across the area since North Somerset stopped providing the service to town councils six years ago. With the new regime in place, there is a chance we could be included in the next contract."
Weston Town Council is in charge of 55 dog bins overall, with 17 of those emptied twice a week.
Bins in Hutton have been used to dispose of inappropriate animal waste such as rabbit pellets and cat litter, meaning they are unable to be cleared.
MORE: Overflowing dog bins and 'patchy' service frustrates town council.
Cllr Gill Bute said the problem was 'absolutely disgusting'.
She said: "To award a contract to someone not doing their job properly until March next year is difficult.
"It is absolutely disgusting in Worle and other areas which have gone weeks without collections."
Cllr Ian Porter added: "The problem is they are called dog bins. If they were general waste bins then we would not have had half of these problems."
