A councillor has claimed Bath & North East Somerset Council’s cabinet is in “disarray” following the sudden U-turn over the introduction of charges at local recycling centres.
Grant Johnson, Labour councillor for the Paulton ward, said the change showed there was “no clear direction or leadership”.
It was announced last Thursday that controversial charges for disposing of rubble, plasterboard and tyres at recycling centres across the district, which were due to come into effect today, Monday, 24th May, were being put on hold.
Cllr Johnson said: “It is obviously fantastic to see these backward looking and thoughtless charges put on hold by the administration.
“I heard from so many residents who were saying two things, 1. This will lead to more fly tipping and 2. Don’t we already pay for this service as part of our Council Tax? I agreed with everyone that made these very valid arguments, which is why we were putting pressure on the cabinet to reverse the decision.
“The leader of the Council said that charges for waste would be confusing for residents, but I think that does them an injustice.
“What this cabinet needs to understand is that we need to think about residents first, rather than blaming them for the Lib Dem administrations half-baked ideas.”
“The dramatic change in direction just 4 days before the charges were due to be introduced also shows a Council Cabinet that is in disarray, with no clear direction or leadership.
“It really is an embarrassing time to be a Liberal Democrat in Bath and North East Somerset.”
Speaking last Thursday, Cllr Kevin Guy, leader of B&NES Council, said: “Two things have changed happened since the decision was made to introduce charges for rubble etc at recycling centres.
“First, I was elected Leader and I reaffirmed that we are a listening council. Cllr Wood and I have listened to local residents and parish councils who say they are concerned about the unintended consequences of these charges.
“Second, circumstances have changed. The government have launched a consultation about consistency in recycling services in England.
“Bringing in charges now, only to change them later following government instruction, would be confusing for residents and would add to our officers’ administrative burdens. It would make no sense. And I’m a common sense kind of guy.”
