Claims that slim bins have caused fly-tipping increase are ‘ridiculous’, says Cllr Nick Peel

Cllr Nick Peel, Bolton Council’s executive cabinet member for the environment, was responding to comments made at Astley Bridge Area Forum on Wednesday.

Conservative councillor Paul Wild told the meeting that there had “definitely” been an increase in rubbish dumping since the new bins were introduced last year.

However, Cllr Peel has hit out at the lack of evidence provided to back up the claims.

He said: “I think it is absolutely ridiculous for a councillor to make such a statement and offer no facts, no statistics, or anything like that to back that statement up.

“That is what Cllr Wild has done and I think it is really irresponsible.

“He should not say things like this just to play to the gallery, it directly contradicts the information that we have and I don’t believe he can prove his case.

“If Cllr Wild and the Conservative group think that the introduction of slim bins has led to an increase in fly-tipping, then why aren’t they pledging to reverse our decision?

“They have never put forward a motion to reverse the decision.

“They are trying to have the best of both worlds and it is pure politics.”

Figures released yesterday showed that a show a 40 per cent decrease in fly-tipping incidents recorded by Bolton Council from 2014-15 to 2015-16.

The council also says that it collected 94 tonnes fewer of dumped waste between April 2016 and January 2017 than in the same period the previous year, but Cllr Wild stands by his views.

He said: “I stand by my comments. The point I was making is that you could ask a blind man on the street if fly-tipping has increased and he would know that it has.

“I am not saying that it is all down to the slim bins, but I know from the number of calls I get from members of the public that littering and fly-tipping is on the rise.”

A spokesman for Bolton Council said that there “is no evidence to suggest any link between the introduction of slim bins and fly-tipping”.