Waste collection 'getting better' but reps say there is still room for improvement

COUNCILLORS have been given an update on waste and recycling collection services provided by Bryson Recycling in the Borough - including more recruitment, targeted supervision, a quick response team, a project monitoring officer and weekly meetings.

No council resources were apparently required to assist with waste collections in February, while it was said that ‘ongoing discussions’ are being held with the procurement team to ensure all elements of the contract have been delivered.

A graph showed that collections nose-dived to zero on the day of Storm Chandra (January 27) and returned to between 98 and 100 per cent on the appropriate service day.

At the Operations Committee on Monday night, Lynsey Daly, Head of Waste Strategy and Sustainability, said she hoped members ‘have seen a noticeable improvement through February, even though we had lovely Storm Chandra’.

She said that Bryson had ‘really taken on board’ information from council and that more staff were being recruited and were ‘learning the nuances’ in certain areas.

The officer said that the Quick Response Team was now only responding to emergencies and missed assisted lifts in areas with access problems.

However she conceded that there were still ‘some issues on service standards’ including litter and the way boxes were being left back.

Ms Daly said that council’s own monitoring officer was working ‘on the ground’ with Bryson daily.

DUP Dunsilly Alderman Linda Clarke said that a pensioner constituent’s glass box hadn’t been collected for two weeks and that he had to retrieve it from a ditch, which she was was ‘not acceptable’.

She also said the Ahoghill Road in Randalstown had not been lifted, acknowledging that roadworks were taking place.

“Things are getting slightly better, but there is room for improvement.” she said.

UUP Councillor Robert Foster asked about assisted lifts.

Ms Daly said that the vehicles were being fitted with technology which requires assisted lifts to be manually confirmed by the driver.

Alliance Antrim Town rep Neil Kelly said that he still had concerns about the replacement of bins, saying that he had witnessed four bins blocking the driveway of one property

“I am pleased to see an improvement, but we really need to push the standard of service.” he said.

Sinn Fein Airport Councillor Anne Marie Logue said that those requiring assisted lifts should not be discriminated against.

She also had concerns about rubbish spilling out of vehicles and boxes, saying Largy Road was ‘particularly bad’.

She asked: “What is wrong with the vehicles?”

Ms Daly said that the vehicles purchased by council for the contractors has speed limiters associated with the flaps, so they could not be driven at great speed while ‘open’, but could still move from one house to another.

She said that compactors should also help prevent overspilling.

“If the crew are not doing that, they are being spoken to, the boxes are open when they are emptied, they have been trained to look to make sure and to crews should be picking up litter, it is down to the crew.” she said.

She said that monitoring officers from council and Bryson are still speaking to crews and that it would need to be checked whether roadside rubbish was caused by the lorries or ‘drive by litter’.

She added that mixed assisted lifts were often being dealt on the same day, but sometimes by a different team and that could create an ‘unfair’ perception that they were not being carried out at all.