By Jenni DixonA COUNCIL has told homeowners angry over fortnightly collections of their household waste that they will have to pay to have their bins emptied weekly.

By Jenni Dixon

A COUNCIL has told homeowners angry over fortnightly collections of their household waste that they will have to pay to have their bins emptied weekly.

Refuse collectors from Waveney District Council are now only emptying black wheelie bins filled with household rubbish once every two weeks, instead of weekly, following the authority's introduction of a three-bin recycling initiative this year.

Under the scheme, blue bins are used for recycable waste, black for household rubbish and green for garden waste - but the black bins are only collected every two weeks.

However, residents, second home owners and tenants in Southwold claimed leaving household rubbish for two weeks was unhygienic, prompting Southwold Town Council and HA Adnams Estates and Letting Agents to request that weekly collections were reinstated.

But in a letter to Daphne Hall, partner at HA Adnams, Martin Plane, the council's portfolio manager for built environment, refused to back down.

“In general terms, there are no grounds whatsoever for Southwold to be exempt from the recycling scheme,” he said, adding said anyone who wanted their bins emptied weekly could employ the council's waste team for £2.69 a week.

Ms Hall said all the homes that it let out were privately-owned and it would be up to the owner to decide to pay for weekly collections.

“All we have heard all summer is tenants complaining about the state of their bins - the smell and maggots. Second home owners now pay council tax, which covers refuse, and I feel they should not have to pay to have them emptied,” she added.

“I don't think it would be a problem in the winter because of the cold weather and because a lot of houses are not let.”

Speaking at a town council meeting, Southwold mayor Geraldine Bryant, said: “Southwold does have a few extra problems, but I don't think they are insurmountable.

“I personally feel that £2.69 a week is worth the hassle, the smell and the maggots that holiday homes experience with their bins.”

jenni.dixon@eadt.co.uk