THE race is on to get Bromsgrove's ambitious refuse and recyling scheme fully up and running before next March.

That's the deadline the district council is working to, to get the scheme fully implemented. If the local authority fails it runs the risk of having to pay the government back the £1.9m grant it was given to set the scheme up in the first place.

Now round four, which had been put on hold while the operation was reviewed and problems ironed out, will begin on Tuesday, November 2. This area includes parts of Rubery, the Oakalls, Catshill and Tardebigge.

It was Councillor Brian Fuller (Con-Hillside), the cabinet member responsible for environmental services, who called a halt to the scheme. Now he has sent a hard-hitting letter to all council members updating them on the latest developments.

He says additional rear-load refuse vehicles are needed to cope with narrow access and country lanes, and some householders are abusing the council's dispensation scheme, which will result in all being revisited to ensure they are justified.

There have been mechanical problems with the German-made refuse freighters, which has led to the company extending the warranties. It has emerged the vehicles were made in a factory about to close and quality control may have suffered as a result.

A representative is being flown from Germany, at no cost to ratepayers, to ride in the cabs to ensure staff have been trained correctly.

Cllr Fuller is highly critical of the recycling vehicles, which he condemns as "slow and labour intensive." These were not the council's choice, he says, but the cheaper vehicles were insisted on by the government department which approved the grant.

The delivery of bins and boxes is also criticised. Some problems were the fault of contractors, others caused by poor information supplied to them by the council.

In future delivery people will be given maps and a "pilot" familiar with the district will travel with delivery teams.

Two firms engaged to deliver "countdown" leaflets for the recycling scheme have also parted company with the district council.

In future binmen will deliver an explanatory leaflet and a letter to each household prior to the scheme starting.

Cllr Fuller said: "This will give them a sense of ownership, as well as extra cash."

On a brighter note he says complaints from the public have dwindled and, up to the end of August, 2,700 tonnes of waste had been recycled from the first three rounds.

pete.lammas@midlands.

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