LEADING recycling campaigner Judy Onslow has this week defended fortnightly rubbish collections across the district. She said rubbish collections every two weeks had been successful in East Hampshire, worked well with few complaints, and had increased recycling rates across the district. Her statement came after an influential committee of MPs at Westminster branded them 'unworkable' across the country. The committee added that the system of collections should not be universally introduced as they were likely to increase fly-tipping and confuse the public. Members said there was no evidence that the change had done anything to increase recycling and instead of cutting collections, local authorities should consider increasing them. The report from the communities and local government select committee was made public on Monday. It said that the government should be looking at cutting the waste generated by businesses, nine times the amount which came from domestic rubbish. And committee members have called for more research into the links between less frequent collections and the risk to health from flies, maggots, rats and other vermin. The report says alternative week collections are "clearly not appropriate to all areas", particularly urban areas characterised by much shared accommodation. Mrs Onslow said she was at a loss to understand the findings of the report. "I can see that in some very urban areas there could be special problems, but here in East Hampshire the placing of bins is now an important part of every plan considered and we look carefully at all new development, particularly flats, where we insist on a recycling area. "Waste should be collected and disposed of in the most sustainable fashion and I believe we have achieved this in East Hampshire." She said she believed the success of fortnightly collections in the district lay in the huge amount of consultation with its 47,000 residents before it was introduced. As a result, she said there were few problems and complaints from householders. "We always work hard with residents to make sure all their problems are solved and we give a personal service visiting people in their homes if we need to." She added: "I look forward to seeing the results of the committee's investigations into its claims that these collections don't increase recycling rates, because in East Hampshire they have increased and I reckon the system works incredibly well."
