Council reverts to weekly bin days after backlash

Basildon's Labour-led administration voted to bring back weekly black bin collections.

Councillors have approved a decision to revert back to weekly general waste collections following a public backlash.

Basildon Council in Essex introduced fortnightly black bin days and a new recycling system last year.

A total 72.3% of people who responded to a public consultation wanted the collections to return to a weekly rota.

Labour leader Gavin Callaghan told the cabinet meeting: "Fixing the bins is the number one priority of the administration."

The new waste system was introduced by the previous Conservative administration on 27 November last year.

Residents went from putting their recycling in a pink bag, to splitting their rubbish and recycling into six different sections, with refuse collected fortnightly.

It led to complaints that lingering rubbish was putting public health at risk and some claimed the sacks were more susceptible to being blown away.

'Spectacularly wrong'

Only Brentwood Borough Council has weekly refuse collections in Essex. Southend-on-Sea City Council is moving to fortnightly collections in 2025.

Other councils in England, such as Bristol, are considering monthly bin collections to save money.

Aidan McGurran, the Labour cabinet member for environment and leisure, said the weekly rota would return in the spring.

He said the Tory administration "got it spectacularly wrong".

Former Conservative leader Andrew Baggott warned Labour that it would need to "look at what services you might need to cut to deliver that".

The new bin rota will need final approval at a Basildon full council meeting in February when the 2025-26 budget is set.