No weekly rubbish collection in rural areas

More than 500 residents petitioned Ryedale Council to restore the weekly green bin collections, either all year round or during the summer holidays.

For a number of years the council has collected house-hold refuse one week, then the next week it provides a free collection service for garden waste, plus a bag for glass, paper and cans.

Petition organiser Coun Paul Andrews argued if the council opted to have just two or three extra collections in the school holiday period in summer, it would avoid the risk of smell and attracting vermin.

But now figures have revealed the costs of restoring the weekly refuse collection would be between 400,000 and 450,000, and even a weekly collection just in the summer holidays would be between 80,000 and 100,000.

It would also cause recycling levels to drop, and Co2 levels to rise through vehicle use, officials added. Coun Andrews claimed it was wrong to make cuts which could affect public health.

But Phil Long, Head of Environment, argued that the petition was not representative of the feelings of the wider public who supported the scheme.

He said: "It was only signed by a few hundred people and it was an initiative by an individual councillor. We have had no complaints about the scheme which has been in place for a number of years.

"We were one of the top recycling councils in the UK and have been very successful – while our residents have responded magnificently.

"The petition was presented at full council last month and as part of the democratic process is came to community services for consideration. We are always happy to take on board these things.

"But the figures have been crunched and there would be an annual extra cost of 450,000 to do it. That is an estimated cost but essentially it would be for vehicles, staff, fuel maintenance and all the essentials for running the fleet."