Tax protest threatened over rubbish Rhyl bin service

Jun 25 2008 by David Rutland, Rhyl Visitor

RHYL residents are hitting out at a primitive rubbish collection system which leaves waste strewn across the town’s streets.

But council officers claim that leaving an old carpet out with refuse should prevent problems.

Every day when refuse sacks are left out for collection, the town’s predatory seagull population turn up for a free meal, ripping open bags in the process

Some residents have reached breaking point and are considering withholding their council tax until the issue is resolved.

Mike Taylor, of Orton Grove, said: “I am getting fed-up with the state of our streets. On my walk from my house to the train station this morning I couldn’t walk down the pavement because of all the rubbish.

“This was before 8am and the refuse collector was on his own with his bin wagon and he was basically shovelling it into the back of the wagon. Surely if we were provided with wheelie bins and doorstep recycling facilities then this would not be a problem.

“I am seriously considering withholding a proportion of my council tax because of this disgusting situation.”

The council is in the process of issuing wheelie bins to properties throughout Rhyl but claims that not all properties are suited to them. Terraces tend to lack storage space at the front and are likely to remain on the sack system in the short term.

A Denbighshire County Council spokesman said: “In lots of areas, residents that are still on the sack system find that covering their rubbish bags with an off-cut of carpet or old blanket is enough to prevent the seagulls from getting access to the bags, and this has been very successful. The bin men also know what the covers are for and so replace them.

“Longer term we are looking at providing communal wheeled bins on streets that are badly affected by gulls and the council is working on obtaining the funding to make this happen.”

See page 11 for a special report on the future of Rhyl, by Denbighshire’s environment head, Iwan Prys Jones.

david.rutland