A DORCHESTER councillor claims he is going to start charging rent for new bins that have been delivered to his home as part of a new collection service that started this week.

Households in the county town and Purbeck have received a number of containers for the new ‘recycle for Dorset’ collection service which is now in operation.

Each household has a 240-litre wheelie bin with a green lid for recycling, a 140-litre grey bin for rubbish, a 23-litre lockable outdoor bin and a seven-litre kitchen caddy for food waste.

Town councillor David Taylor says he is taking a stand as he is concerned by the number of people who have contacted him to say they will struggle to find room for the bins and will be forced to wheel them through their houses when they need to put them out or take them in.

He said: “The storage space is becoming a major issue.

“I’m lucky to have a garden to store the bins in and to have rear access to my premises but a lot of people don’t have this.

“The majority of properties in Dorchester only have front access.”

Cllr Taylor cited Colliton Street as one particular area where residents have expressed concerns about the use of the new bins, with residents claiming they will be forced to wheel the bins through their homes.

He added: “My issue is the fact they have imposed this recycling programme on my property and the storage of these bins has taken over my garden.

“The way I look at it if they are taking over my garden I would expect recompense and will be forced to charge them rent.”

Cllr Taylor, who has written to the Waste Partnership asking for £70 a year in rent for the bins, stressed that he was in favour of recycling but was opposed to the way a scheme that was unsuitable for Dorchester had been ‘imposed’ on the town.

He said: “I’m not against recycling, I’m against the principle that somebody has just imposed it.”

 

Steve Burdis, director of the Dorset Waste Partnership, said: “We have received very few complaints from residents about the new service, although we appreciate the changes may take some time to get used to.
 

“Where the service has been introduced, both recycling and satisfaction levels have markedly increased.
 

“The new bins and containers are provided to help residents, with the majority of recycling going in the larger wheelie bin and glass and food waste put in separate containers to produce better quality recycling.
 

“By law, councils are able to specify the containers for household waste.
 

“Householders are not entitled to charge a storage fee and councils can, if necessary, serve a notice requiring households to use the collection service provided. Where possible, we prefer not to resort to formal legal notices.
 

“The new service is flexible and households have been able to request different containers depending on their circumstances, such as having no space to store bins outside, as well as help moving their containers if they are physically unable to do so.”