Wolverhampton street cleaning cut to four times a year
Residential streets in Wolverhampton will only be cleaned every three months – half as often as at present – under controversial new cuts.
City council bosses originally shelved the proposal in February after it proved unpopular in a consultation but have now decided to go ahead anyway after being hit with further budget reductions from central Government.
But opposition Tories today criticised the authority for trying to present the cut as an improvement by claiming it would lead to greater efficiency.
The new plans will see A-roads swept fortnightly, B-roads swept every six weeks and remaining roads every 12 weeks, instead of every six.
Litter-picking will still take place every six weeks on residential streets and more frequently on busier roads.
Four new road sweepers will be bought by Wolverhampton City Council at a cost of £60,000 in an effort to plug a £300,000 gap in the street cleaning budget. Overall the council faces £86m of cuts over five years, £26m worse than originally predicted before George Osborne's latest spending review.
The plans to cut the frequency of street cleaning were dropped in favour of reducing garden waste collections in winter instead. Now both policies will go ahead.
Bosses say the new vehicles are smaller than the current vehicle so they will be easier to manoeuvre. Two of the sweepers will be based in and around the city centre, another will be in Bilston while the fourth will be rotated between Wednesfield and Tettenhall.
Although they will cost £15,000 each council chiefs say they will help them save money as they are more economical to run.
Labour councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton City Council's cabinet member for city services, said: "We have carried out a review of our street cleansing service to make it more efficient both in terms of reliability and capacity while helping us reduce costs."
Opposition Tory leader Councillor Neville Patten said: "People are not stupid. They will see through this policy. The Labour party needs to face up to austerity and not target things that people have already told them they do not want the council to do."
