Your reporting on the refuse collection and wheelie bin issue indicates you do not understand the financial issues.

The facts are it is actually costing more than the council had estimated to run the current refuse system. The chief executive's investigations have established the refuse service is actually costing more than had been predicted.

The reported overspend of £1.7 million is what was then calculated as the actual cost of continuing to provide the current alternate-week service.

The change to a weekly collection of non-recyclable refuse will cost more in terms of collection but it will save money in terms of the efficiency of collection and increased recycling, as the amount of extra black sacks collected and levels of contamination of recyclables are reduced. So, overall, the council estimates it will cost very little extra.

With the introduction of a weekly collection of brown bins, it has now been estimated that the overspend this year will be nearer £2 million. In the long-term, the on-going cost of the service should be less than this as the efficiency savings come in.

All parties on the council support the introduction of a weekly brown bin collection. Any change to a weekly collection of brown bins before would not have cost any less than we are now spending it would have increased costs above the budget.

Councillor Mike Cooper

Leader of the council.

November 16, 2001 10:01