Bay of Colwyn Town Council mayor Jeff Pearson vented his frustration on Facebook
A Conservative town mayor has called on people to boycott recycling in protest at a local council’s ‘idiotic’ plan to reduce bin collections to just once a month.
Bay of Colwyn Town Council mayor Councillor Jeff Pearson took to Facebook to vent his frustration with the controversial change to the way the council collects rubbish.
He urged people in the town to ‘fight back’ against the ‘idiots’ and ‘stop recycling’ waste for the council.
Mr Pearson added that residents had ‘had enough’ after the council said bins would be collected just 12 times a year.
Posting publicly on his account, he said: ‘I suggest we fight back by simply stop recycling your waste for them. Put it all in the black bin leaving the green boxes empty.
‘That way the black bins will be spilling over onto the pavements for the seagulls to pull apart causing a mess for the bin men.’
Mr Pearson added: ‘They would have to revert back to the three-weekly collections then and then we start recycling.
‘We have to fight back against these complete idiots, enough is enough.’
Speaking after the post, he said: ‘It’s just one idea I had as a protest, as people have had enough.
‘It’s one thing after another in Conwy; charging people for taking things to the skip, introducing pay and display in Colwyn Bay and now monthly bin collections.
A street side scene in Old Colwyn, posted on the Save Our Bin Collections Facebook page
An overflowing bin in the Kinmel Bay area of Conwy County Borough in North Wales
‘Not recycling would cause a mess but something needs to be done to stop this.’
Conservative Conwy council’s cabinet member for finance Councillor Sam Rowlands said the Welsh Labour government was ultimately responsible for imposing cuts on the council.
He said: ‘At the moment the Welsh government are sitting pretty. They cut the money for services – but because we have to made reductions or changes to services as a result, we’re the ones who get the flak.
‘Welsh and UK government also oblige us to introduce new policies without giving us the money to fund them. So while government cut our funding, and increase our costs we have no other option than to reduce services or generate income.
An old mansion now used as the offices for the Conwy County Borough Council in Bodlondeb
‘We’ve lost about £38million in the past five years and we’re having to manage another £11.5 million of pressures this year. That’s the reality we’re dealing with.’
Labour Councillor Mike Priestly said the council was trying to pass the buck, adding: ‘I don’t think it’s right to blame the Welsh government for this as it was a local decision made.
‘The decision has caused an outcry, people are not happy as it’s not the right time for monthly bin collections.
‘In the areas where the monthly collections were trailed many householders were struggling and these issues should be sorted before forcing monthly bin collections on everybody.’