Fly-tipping fears as claims made over Dudley waste collections delays
A row has erupted between a senior councillor and campaigner who have accused each other of political point-scoring over Dudley's bulky waste collection service.
Lib Dem campaigner Ryan Priest said residents had tried to book a slot to access the service but had been informed they will have to try again in a few weeks' time.
Mr Priest claimed fly-tipping rates could soar, with crooks "rubbing their hands" at there being no council service, and people being forced to turn to private firms.
But this has been dismissed by Councillor Shaz Saleem who has branded the claims as "scaremongering" and said the issue surrounding the system had been resolved.
Mr Priest said his party had campaigned for the bulky waste collection fee to be scrapped and "never thought the Conservatives would go the other way and scrap the actual service instead" – saying fly-tipping would increase.
However, Councillor Saleem, cabinet member for highways and public realm at Dudley Council, hit back and accused the campaigner of spreading misinformation.
He said: "We have not scrapped the bulky waste collection service. We experienced some operational difficulties which resulted in the authority being unable to accept new bookings for five days this month.
“The collection service never stopped completely – we continued to honour pre-booked collections over this period – and normal service has been resumed this week with residents able to book the collections again.
"I believe its wrong for Ryan to spread false information, which is scaremongering and was only done as a pointless point-scoring jab."
The Lib Dem campaigner said Councillor Saleem's response was "typical of the council's leadership" as he accused the senior figure of political point scoring, saying the "false advice" handing out to people over the delays will have caused them to use unlicensed removal companies and potentially increase fly-tipping.
