Bins revolution

From June 2009, residents in Abingdon, Didcot, Wantage, Wallingford and villages across the area will see changes in rubbish services.

One firm will collect recyclable and non-recyclable waste on alternate weeks from homes under South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Councils.

James Charman, chairman of Hanover Court Residents' Association in Didcot, said: "It will be a nightmare. There are rats already and this will only encourage them. I can't see it working here."

Father-of-three Mark Allinson, 33, of Broadway, Didcot, said: "It's not welcome at all. A lot of people along the Broadway don't have driveways, and it will be a pain to find somewhere to put the wheelie bins. It's pests and smell of rubbish sitting around for two weeks I'm not happy with."

Laurence Shaw, 60, of Churchill Road, Didcot, said: "It's absolutely disgraceful. Wheelie bins are spoiling most towns in this country.

"Are the council going to give us somewhere to keep these wheelie bins? Why don't they do what they do in Europe and have daily collections?"

Raymond Eagleton, 64, of Darrell Way, Abingdon said: "It's going to cause problems. It would cause a lot more inconvenience for me as it would have to stand outside my back door for two weeks."

Leslie Gillham 77, of Berry Croft, Abingdon, said: "The very thought of it with waste staying so long, rotting and decaying. It's going to cause all sorts of problems - children might get hold of it, teenagers might start throwing it at each other as a joke, it could lead to all sorts of unpleasantness."

But Dean Bateson, 25, of Albermarle Drive, Grove, welcomed the idea.

He said: "As long as they supply what we need to do it. I would not mind the two-weekly collection if the bins are big enough.

"It's all about trying to make the Vale cleaner and safer, and that's a good thing. I would like to see a trial period and also would hope that the council would consult all residents before introducing it."

Judy Thomas, 65, of Miles Drive, Grove, said: "I don't like the idea of fortnightly collections, but if they take the food away weekly, that's my main bugbear.

"We probably could store wheelie bins but there are a lot of people who can't, and wheelie bins are unsightly."

At the moment, both councils offer weekly collections of recycling and rubbish.

But when the changes are introduced residents can expect their non-recyclable waste to be collected fortnightly from wheelie bins.

Recycling, including glass, mixed plastics, cans and paper, will also be collected fortnightly from wheelie bins or boxes and food waste will be collected weekly from a kitchen caddy.

It is thought households in both districts would have their rubbish collected in the same way, by one company from June 2009 in South Oxfordshire and autumn 2010 in the Vale.

Jenny Hannaby, a Vale district councillor and executive member for waste procurement, said: "From the start of the new contract in autumn 2010 there will continue to be weekly collection of waste from people's homes, but for food waste only.

"This is the waste people are most concerned about due to problems with smell and possible vermin.

While recycling and non-recyclable waste will be collected fortnightly, one type one week and the other the next, diverting food waste from this should meet people's concerns."

David Dodds, cabinet member for environmental services at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: "We have to radically reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill as space is rapidly running out and we face large penalties from Government if we don't.

"To make storing rubbish and recycling easier we will be introducing wheeled bins which will also reduce the risk of waste littering the streets when it's windy.

"We will also be looking at alternatives for those who cannot accommodate wheeled bins such as those living in flats or terraces."

Oxfordshire County Council's plans for a multi-million pound giant food composter is expected to process the waste when it becomes operational next year.

Residents can opt-in to a fortnightly collection of garden waste in wheelie bins or biodegradable sacks.

This would be charged separately.

The two councils have narrowed down three companies Kier, Serco and Verdant, as the final contenders for the waste collection and street cleansing contract.

A decision is expected before the end of the year.

Neither council could say if or how much money would be saved until negotiations had been completed.