Almost nobody on the Yes side bothered with legal theory: they wrote about bins. Members backed a legal fortnightly minimum overwhelmingly, and the arguments read like complaints from the kerb.
The three joint most-respected cases were all Yes, and all practical. One was four clipped sentences: “Fortnightly. Not optional. Public health. Rats.” Another warned that longer gaps bring “pest and maggot infestations, as well as awful stench”. A third came from a voter whose council went three-weekly to save money: “We have actually seen an increase in fly tipping.”
A second Yes strand was about what council tax buys. “It is one of a very few benefits we receive from our council tax,” wrote one voter. Another put the squeeze on social care, saying government must fund it so collections can stay fortnightly.
The No side's most-respected case was a principled one: local authorities should have “the flexibility to design their own waste management”, and Westminster shouldn't ban cost-cutting that boosts recycling. Others argued the problem eases if food waste is separated, with one No voter saying “No, if food waste is separated out.” Yet even several No voters conceded nappies and medical waste make longer gaps hard. Yes voters mostly answered the flexibility point by pointing to fly-tipping and health, not by engaging with the funding trade-offs.
That sets the vote inside the argument over council finances and how far central government should dictate local services. The sharpest No line pushed it to the ballot box, not the courts. Yes voters seemed to see the bin as the plainest test of what councils are for.
51 Opinions
My local council moved general waste collections to once every three weeks to save money; it has been most unpopular thus far. We have actually seen an increase in fly tipping.
Fortnightly. Not optional. Public health. Rats. Granny unable to lift the bin.
Longer than two weeks encourages pest and maggot infestations, as well as awful stench
It is one of a very few benefits we receive from our council tax.
Absolutely. Councils should be bound by a minimum level of basic service that they provide. If they can’t even manage that, there should be options to take them into special measures. Council tax is higher than ever, council output not so much…
Three-weekly rubbish collections are pathetic. We pay council tax for basic services, not to store rotting waste for 21 days while councils boast about savings. Fortnightly should be the minimum, with weekly rounds where needed. Councils must prioritise essentials and stop pissing public money up the wall, including on support for people with no legal right to remain in Britain. Look after the taxpayers funding the system before cutting the services they pay for.
Three weeks for general waste to fester encourages pests. More importantly it allows more than one generation of flies to go through the life cycle in every bin with consequential increased numbers! Particularly noticeable are the really tiny flies that can easily pass through a ‘standard’ small mesh. This is a health issue, not just an annoyance … eh ?
We need regular refuse collections: Birmingham is an example of public health problems from not collecting waste. Fortnightly collection is basic frequency, as long as people are provided with sufficient pest free storage.
All Collections should be once a week. Where I live it we have once a week refuse and recycling collections. No problem here but yes it's a no brainer to have regular collections otherwise it will attract rats,gulls and other scavengers. Also need to rename the location. Stinky town or village. Embarrassing if you live with this mess. Look at Glasgow. Urgh.
The weight of the bin and the stench is horrid after 4 weeks. Councils just stealing money for other things