Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
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by Lib Dem team on 19 February, 2011
Whatever your views on Stockport’s new bins, the story in the Stockport Express this week criticising the Council for spending £7.5 million on new bins is a very silly one.
The spend of £7.5 million is since 2003 – i.e. over a period of eight years.
The Council – and so taxpayers – are currently saving nearly three million pounds a year thanks to the bin rollout and the greatly increased recycling rates that have resulted. We’ve already made back the £7.5 million and over the next few years we’ll make back a lot more.
So you do the maths. Would you like a council to invest £7.5 million over 8 years for a return of nearly £3 million a year? I know I would.
Thanks to the bin rollout, we’re all saving money – which means we’re paying less tax than we would otherwise have done and/or getting better services. I’m very proud that Stockport Lib Dems have had the vision to be among the leaders in getting such as good deal for residents – it’s just a little sad that – unless you read right to the end of the article in the Stockport Express – you wouldn’t be given the information to figure that out.
5 Comments
It would be nice if they actually collected the rubbish according to their timetable.
They normally do – if you’ve a problem let Pam or I have the details and we should be able to sort it out.
You could save even more if extra bins weren’t delivered to people who had not asked for them. An extra green bin was left at my home before Christmas so I rang a few times to ask for the extra green bin to be collected and left it at the front of my bungalow for weeks. It is now sitting in my garage as it was never collected and I have given up ringing.
Thanks for this helpful article to balance the negativity of the Stockport Express. I saw the headline on a billboard on the pavement and my heart sank. I rarely buy the paper (through previous exasperation with its inaccuracies) so am not at all surprised that the true version has been so twisted. The bins and recyling facilities are, in my view, absolutely excellent and SMBC is to be commended for them. My only sadness is the refusal on the part of some people to put rubbish in the correct bins – I despair as I drive past black bins so full the lid is pushed up and surrounded by half a dozen more bin bags beside them. One trip to Adswood, as I did the other day, is heartbreaking enough to inspire new zeal for recycling!
Good reply, Iain, pity it won’t be read by as many people as read the Express. I hope all our councillors will post similar replies in their newsletters.