Bury bin collection move will create 'enormous stink'

The "stink" will be "enormous" during warm weather in Bury after the council reduced household rubbish collections, the communities secretary has said.

The Greater Manchester authority now collects grey bins once every three weeks rather than fortnightly.

Eric Pickles said the move was punishing residents "like naughty children" for not recycling enough.

The council said it would save £800,000 a year and food waste collections remained unchanged.

The Labour-led authority said it would also boost recycling rates to 60% in the borough.

Mr Pickles, Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, said: "There are many fine councils in this country with weekly collections that have managed to increase their recycling.

"It seems to me that the most important thing is to treat your residents with respect and not to treat them like naughty children by taking away their privileges because they're not recycling enough."

Source: Bury Council, external

Glen Stewart, head of waste management for Bury Council, said: "We're very confident that this change in the residual waste bin collection frequency will force people into thinking about how they manage their waste more effectively.

"If they put the right stuff in the right bin, using the full complement of recycling bins that we offer, people will be able to manage with the new service."

Daniel Barkess, who lives in Radcliffe, said his grey bin was full two weeks before the collection was due.

He said: "I feel the community has the same feelings as I do towards the three-weekly cycle and I feel something should be done about it."

The council has to make savings of £16m in addition to £40m of cuts already instigated.