Vix shares this latest news on behalf of the Isle of Wight Green Party. Ed
The sight of residents queuing up in their cars and blocking roads to Lynbottom Tip in the last fortnight has been described by local Greens as a ‘complete fiasco’.
Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart, has demonstrated how out of touch the administration is by urging Islanders to stay away and attend the tip when it’s quieter ‘between 4-6pm’.
“Unacceptable” changes
Parish councillor and IW Green spokesperson, Vix Lowthion, says,
“This is completely unacceptable.
“Our Council Tax has risen hugely this year – and yet our waste service opening hours have been slashed from opening at 7am in 2017 to waiting until 10am this summer.
“Working families and those with caring responsibilities cannot easily access the facilities during these limited hours.
“The complete failure to run our waste services sensibly will result in even more discarded material and a greater rise in fly-tipping littering our Island.”
“Thin end of the wedge”
Green Party Town and Parish Councillors believe that this disarray is only the thin end of the wedge.
In 2018, the Council have introduced a hefty £60 annual surcharge for each household to access garden waste collection, and their budget includes plans to scrap the mobile waste collection service in our towns, as well as nearly 40% of all Island bottle banks.
Vix Lowthion continues,
“The Council should be arranging village and town collections for shredding and mulching – thereby avoiding 20 mile car and lorry trips to transport grass cuttings.
“They should be making it easier to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste – not slashing access to much needed facilities.
“I urge our Council to urgently re-evaluate their waste strategy and provide a service which works for the Islanders who fund it.”
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
