Covid causes missed bin collections

Bin collections in Gloucester are being missed due to a number of lorry drivers contracting coronavirus.

Gloucester City Council informed residents that kerbside collections of dry recycling were missed yesterday due to staff absence and the ongoing shortage of HGV drivers.

The council said the affected streets would have a double recycling collection next week.

People have been affected over the last few months by missed collections of dry recyclables put out for the kerbside collection service run by council contractor Urbaser.

Council leader Richard Cook (Con, Kingsway) assured councillors the issue had been resolved at a meeting earlier this month.

But opposition leader Jeremy Hilton (Lib Dem, Kingsholm and Wotton) said the situation was a shambles after further failures to collect the waste.

“Only the week before last we debated my motion at council calling for the cabinet to sort out the missed bin collections,” Cllr Hilton said.

“The leader, Richard Cook in response said the problem had been sorted and extra drivers had been employed.

“The Tories then voted against. This just sums up what a rotten administration we have at the city council. They cannot collect dry recyclable materials on schedule. It’s a statutory duty.

“The leader misled the council and a service people pay for in council tax isn’t being provided. What a shambles.”

Cllr Cook said at the time of the meeting on November 18 the council had carried out full operations for nine consecutive days, having undergone a number of weeks of missed collections due to HGV driver shortages.

“Last Wednesday, I was advised that we had four report sick with Covid which is quite unprecedented since we’ve tried to maintain a position where crews don’t mingle, therefore don’t spread infections,” he said.

“We had two new drivers start today who will complete their induction on Wednesday and a new driver starts on Wednesday which will put us over headcount when those off sick return.

“We have maintained residual, food and green waste collections because dry recycling is fairly easy to store and won’t attract vermin and we’ve ensured that missed collections are rotated when they happen, to ensure that residents are not affected more than one week in a row.

“I don’t accept Cllr Hilton’s allegations of failure. Covid causes unpredictable pressures which the council has responded to as well as possible and most residents have been understanding.”

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk