'I will seek a Council Tax rebate:' Doncaster man's blast after being told bin won't be collected due to snow

A Doncaster man has demanded a Council Tax rebate after being told his bin won't be collected due to a backlog in collections caused by last week's snow.
Doncaster Council has said it will not attempt to catch up on the backlog of bin collections.Doncaster Council has said it will not attempt to catch up on the backlog of bin collections.
Doncaster Council has said it will not attempt to catch up on the backlog of bin collections.

Stainforth resident Philip Leese has sent an angry email to Doncaster Council after the authority announced that it would not be attempting to catch up on missed collections after last week's 'Beast from the East' blizzards and that some residents would have to wait until their next scheduled pick-up - which could be as long as four weeks.

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Doncaster Council hits back at anger over bin collections amid snow disruption

In the missive to Doncaster Council, he wrote: "I am very disappointed to hear that you will not be coming to empty my black bin.

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"So seeing as you have not fulfilled all your duties again during this year's council tax bill 2017/18, then I will be seeking a rebate of a week's bin collections off this next council tax bill 2018/19.

"I look forward to seeing that bill with one week's rebate of my final bill.

"If this does not happen then I will be forced to hold full payment back until I do."

The authority has come under fire after collections were suspended on Wednesday and Thursday after snow brought parts of the town to a standstill.

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But the authority has said there will be no reduction or refund of Council Tax over missed collections and yesterday issued a lengthy statement on how it plans to catch up with the backlog caused by last week's disruption.

A statement on the council's website said: "We understand there is a lot of anger from people about bins following last week’s bad weather.

"The council and Suez have thought very carefully about what we should do – our decision has not been made through laziness or lack of planning – there are so many different things to balance.

"The disruption couldn’t have come at a worse time, right before the start of the new waste and recycling service.

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"It is absolutely vital that people know what bin they’re putting out on what days so for us to change this now, on the very week when the new collections are due to begin, we’d risk causing even more confusion for people.

"While we don’t have any ideal scenario, we’ve picked the approach which is going to create the least amount of problems for the fewest people."

"We know this means that some of you will go up to 3-4 weeks without a black bin collection, and we’re really sorry about that. Unfortunately though, the only other options will cause way too much confusion and will be negative for everyone."

Residents have been told that additional accumulated waste can be stored and collected on the next available collection or taken to a household waste recycling centre.

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Mr Leese said his bin in Coronation Road, Stainforth was "full and out on the street where it will stay."

He added: "I am aware of the back log due to the weather but I managed to get away on business meetings hence I believe that you given a service and at the moment not delivered on this."