Bins in Wokingham to be emptied less as council cuts costs

Wokingham Borough Council urged residents to take rubbish home with them if public bins were looking too full

Public bins are set to be emptied less and grass left to grow as a council tries to save £700,000 from its budget.

Wokingham Borough Council said financial pressures arising from high inflation, increased demand and low government funding led to the decision.

The authority wants to make the cuts over a three-year period and urged residents to take rubbish home with them if they found bins too full.

The council said it could go bankrupt if it did not make changes.

"Less used" bins will be emptied once instead of twice a week under the plans and areas around bottle banks will be cleaned once weekly instead of twice.

The council said bins and streets in "busier areas" will continue with "more intensive cleaning."

It also plans to reduce the number of times grass verges will be cut from six to four times a year.

Labour group deputy leader Andy Croy said he accepted savings needed to be made but that the decisions were "totally out of step with mood of the borough".

"Other councils have gone bankrupt because of disastrous property investments, not because of too much grass cutting or too many litter bins," he added.

But Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shenton, the authority's executive member for the environment, said failing to make savings such as these now could result in "huge consequences, including major service cuts and increases to council tax".

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