Council apologises to disabled Aylesbury mum for missed bin collections

Aylesbury resident Claire Peacock reported the missed bin collections to the unitary authority, including on 12 August.

But waste officers told her in an email that they could not collect the mother-of-two’s garden waste because her bin could not be found.

“My bins have been in the same place they have been for the last 21 years I have lived here,” Claire told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week.

The resident’s garden waste wheelie bin is kept in a small alley behind her house, along with those of her neighbours.

Claire’s missed bin collections made her question the value of her subscription to the council’s garden waste collection service, which allows residents to dispose of grass, leaves and plant cuttings.

She said: “I’m paying £59 for that. I can’t work at the moment because I am disabled, so I am reliant on benefits.”

The former retail worker, who is originally from Kent, suffers with fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety.

Asked how the missed collections made her feel, she said: “Angry, because I am paying for a service that they are not delivering. And they are expecting people now to pay £59 for the whole year.

“I don’t have a car so in a way it is good value for me because someone is coming to collect the garden waste. I haven’t got to worry about trying to get to the dump with it.

“But it has gone up over the last three or four years from £40 to £59 and if you are struggling it is not easy to find that kind of money.”

Claire paid the council the annual fee for fortnightly garden waste collections in June after her front and back gardens had become overgrown.

“I hadn’t done any gardening up to then because of ill health and then I decided I needed to do some gardening,” she said.

The resident, who has also had some issues with her other bins being collected, including food waste, said she was cut off on the phone on one occasion while trying to resolve the problem.

But this week, received a visit from one of the council’s waste department bosses who apologised about her missed collections and gave her an extra two months’ free garden waste collection.

She said the officer was ‘very nice’ and committed to create a map for all waste crews, so they can find bins in the future.

Thomas Broom, the council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment confirmed that council officers had met with Claire to discuss and resolve the issue.

He said: “The issue arose as crews were not initially aware that the green waste collections were left at the back of this property.

“Crews are now aware, and apologies have been made to Ms Peacock for the upset caused. Details of our assisted collection service have also been provided should Ms Peacock need any additional assistance in the future.”