Mayor defends Mansfield garden waste collections after councillor brands them ‘atrocious’

Andy Abrahams was questioned at Mansfield Council’s latest full council meeting after the authority reduced the cost of the service by £5 from this month.

The measure, approved in the budget in January, takes the cost of the service down from £31 to £26 for all homes in the district.

Speaking in the meeting, Coun Rob Elliman, who represents Oakham, welcomed the move, but said ‘does not anywhere near reflect’ the number of missed collections over the past year.

“The brown bin service over the past year has been nothing short of atrocious at times,” he said.

“To offer a reduced fee is right, but the £5 discount does not anywhere near reflect the multiple missed collections residents had to suffer.”

“Can you confirm if you think this is fair and reflects the poor service residents received?”

‘Community service’

Mr Abrahams said the authority missed 47 out of 496 scheduled garden waste collections between April 2021 and now – roughly 9.4 per cent of all rounds.

But he said the authority’s collections crews returned to 15 rounds on weekends, meaning 6.5 per cent of garden waste bins were not emptied this year.

Mr Abrahams said: “Your question is not an accurate reflection of the excellent job our waste operatives have done in what has been the most challenging of times during the Covid pandemic.

“Garden waste costs £30 a year to residents, scheduled to receive 19 collections across the season.

“This equates to £1.58 per collection.

“On average, 6.5 per cent of missed collections equates to every property missing one collection at a cost of £1.58.”

He said that, of the 24 different collection routes in the district, only two rounds missed three collections, with six missing two collections and 15 missing one.

He said the £5 reduction from April gives all homes the discount of missing an equivalent of three collections for the year.

Mr Abrahams said: “Our refuse collectors have been the link through lockdown with many of our communities and they’ve actually done more than just being refuse collectors.

“I don’t think it’s a deliberately poor service, they actually also deliver a community service.”

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