A SCHEME that would have eliminated smelly, overfilled bins in Waverley was turned down by the borough council, according to the area's Conservative group. The scheme, proposed by Surrey County Council, would have run a trial period of collecting kitchen waste on a weekly basis. The Conservative group claims Waverley Borough Council turned down the opportunity to take part in the scheme, but environment portfolio holder Victor Scrivens denied they were ever invited to join. The Conservative group's environment spokesman John Sandy said: "It is astonishing that Waverley's chaotic Liberal Democrat administration is not involved in a county trial of the weekly collection of kitchen waste. "All boroughs were encouraged last August to try out a weekly collection, with Surrey paying the cost of transport. But Waverley chose not to be involved." He also claims the vote on whether to join the scheme, which has been joined by Guildford and Mole Valley borough councils, was taken in private. Meanwhile, group leader Richard Gates added: "Yet another example of Liberal Democrat incompetence and lack of care for Waverley residents, many of whom found last summer's collection arrangement chaotic. "Once again, Waverley residents will suffer. Conservatives will take this further if we form the administration after the next election." However, Mr Scrivens was bemused by the group's claims, saying they were never asked to sign up for the scheme. He explained: "We never knew anything about this plan in August, and we have certainly not made any decision on it. "Once we found out about this we were trying to find out why we were not involved, but there many boroughs who are not involved in this. "But there is nothing stopping us finding out how we can take part in the trial, or learn from it so we can pass the benefits on to the people of Waverley." He added that the problem with any kitchen- waste scheme is that Surrey does not have the facilities to dispose of the waste, making it "complex" to find somewhere to take any collections. Mr Scrivens also said the council was always looking at ways to collect and dispose of kitchen waste so people do not have the problem of overflowing, smelly bins. A Waverley Borough Council spokesman added: "Officers are not aware of any secret meeting, nor any direct approach to Waverley to participate with a trial of 2,000 households. "However, it has become apparent that Guildford and Mole Valley and Elmbridge are proposing a joint trial and officers from Waverley have been discussing with these three authorities the circumstances in which we could join them and participate." The borough council has been widely criticised for its alternate weekly collections, picking up recyclables one week and waste destined for landfill the next. They were recently praised by local environment minister Ben Bradshaw for the system, which has seen recycling reach 40 per cent for the borough. However, residents complained of maggot- infested bins during the summer months and people living near Witley tip claim the volume of traffic using the site to dump excess waste has reached dangerous levels. King's Road resident Carl Corrigan said areas of the town looked worse than townships abroad on the weeks recyclables are collected - with non-recyclable rubbish falling out onto the street. Despite the problems, Mr Scrivens maintains the scheme is working because the borough is recycling more waste than ever.
