Wiltshire Conservatives have slammed plans by the Liberal Democrats to reduce bin collections for residents in Wiltshire.
The council is pushing ahead with proposals which would see black bin collections reduced from fortnightly to three weekly - despite no mention of this in their local election manifesto.
Cllr Dominic Muns, Conservative councillor for The Lavingtons, said the proposals could see an increase in fly tipping across the county.
"Reducing the frequency of household waste at the kerbside whilst creating a complex calendar of collection dates is unlikely to see a reduction in what households throw away," he said.
Cllr Muns, who previously held the role of cabinet member for Environment, climate and waste said, "What is more likely to happen is that the residential streets in Wiltshire become breeding grounds for rats with items such as nappies and sanitary products potentially left to fester in bins for three weeks.
"At the same time, we risk undoing the work of Wiltshire Conservatives in tackling the blight of fly tipping.
"We invested £450,000 into our enforcement programme in Wiltshire, reducing fly-tipping by over 40%; this proposal risks undoing that hard work. When you compare our record against Lib-Dem run Gloucester, Lib-Dem run Bath and North East Somerset, and our other Lib-Dem run neighbours, the numbers speak for themselves.
"Sadly, it looks like Wiltshire will now go the way of those Lib Dem run authorities.
"As much as we all want to limit what is sent to landfill, simply cutting services will not magically deliver this, particularly as much of what is thrown away is not recyclable. And the double whammy of decision for council tax payers is that it will cost more - not less - money."
The current cabinet member told us today, "We freely accept that the situation is far from ideal."
"If that is the case, why are they proposing to push ahead with these plans, which would also see two household recycling centres in Purton and Calne closed down?"
The proposals also include plans to introduce a booking system for all household recycling centres, despite clear evidence gathered during the Covid-19 pandemic that it discriminated against working people, with weekend slots booking up very quickly.
"Sadly, it is just another bureaucratic hoop for our residents to jump through, at the same time as we expect the Lib Dems to put our council tax up by the maximum," added Cllr Muns.
"If you ask residents what they want from their council the answers are overwhelming: they want pot holes fixed and their bins collected. Under the LIberal Democrats, it would appear they will be disappointed."
