Bags or bins? Residents split on decision

Black bags on a street in Spalding, waiting to be collected

A district in Lincolnshire is split on whether or not to replace rubbish bags with wheelie bins.

South Holland, which includes Spalding, is the only area in the county to still have weekly bag collections.

A council consultation resulted in 49% of people saying they want wheelie bins and 51% saying they do not.

Council leader Nick Worth said any change "should reflect the outcome" of the poll with a mix of bags and bins.

Council leader Nick Worth said he did not expect the result to be so close

Residents currently have separate bags for recycling and other waste, all of which are collected weekly.

A new wheelie bin system would operate on a rotation system with each bin being emptied once a fortnight.

The South Holland District Council consultation received 8,576 responses which Worth described as "by far the biggest response I've ever seen in my time as a councillor".

"I always had a feeling it would be fairly 50/50 but never that close and that makes it very difficult," he said.

"Because it has come up with a 50/50 split then my view is that we have a 50/50 split with a mixture of bags and bins."

Volunteer licker pickerToni Preston says bags are regularly ripped open

Volunteer litter picking group The Wombles of Spalding Common had complained of a rising rubbish problem in the district.

Group member Toni Preston said wheelie bins would help tackle the issue.

"People are putting out their bags days before collection so you're constantly seeing them out in the streets," she said.

"Some people don't tie them up properly so once we get high winds the bags become undone and there's rubbish everywhere or I've seen birds and cats opening bags so we get rubbish and liquids spilling out."

Ray Clements said wheelie bins were "unsightly"

However, Ray Clements from Pinchbeck near Spalding was adamant the council should not make any changes.

"If you haven't got a front garden or a side entrance then the wheelie bins are kept outside which looks unsightly," he said.

"In the summer they smell and unless you clean them regularly the mess that's left in the bottom stinks and can attract maggots."

The council said it was exploring the cost of various options and would ask councillors to make a final decision in December or January.

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