Some residents still need help with bin changes, says Blackpool councillor

Some residents - particularly older people - are still struggling to cope with Blackpool’s new bin schedule because they don’t have internet access, says a ward councillor.

Cllr Julie Sloman, who represents the Norbreck ward on the council, said there has been some confusion around the new arrangements, with collections being missed and people unable to access the council website to get the information.

From the week commencing April 20, all eligible households received a new weekly food waste collection service, with a larger grey bin, a brown bin for paper and two food caddies.

Alongside the new service, bin collections have moved from fortnightly to every three weeks for, grey-lid bids, blue-lid bins and brown-lid bins, meaning many households have seen a change to their usual collection day.

People getting frustrated

Cllr Sloman said: “The issue became very obvious at the Anchorsholme / Norbreck PACT meeting where elderly and visually impaired people expressed their frustrations and raised concerns about everything being available on line only, and continued frustrations about not being able to speak to anyone regarding this and other matters.

“I went out on social media to let my residents know if they couldn’t access the website calendar, Enveco were able to supply a printed calendar that covers a 3 month period.

“Consequently I have been contacted be several residents further afield than Norbreck Road and have passed their contact details on to Enveco.

“I challenge the assumption by the council that everyone has access to the internet. Whilst I accept for most people this is okay, for a lot of people it is not okay.

“I raised this at a recent scrutiny Leadership meeting and I would urge the council to take a more diverse view in its means of communication with residents of all ages and abilities.”

Cllr Sloman is encouraging people to contact their ward councillors if they are having difficulties.