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Council chose ‘cheaper recycling’ - say Greens


MAIDSTONE households will not be ordered to separate card- board and paper from other re- cyclables like bottles, plastic, cans and glass and put them in a separate container. This decision was taken by Maidstone Borough Council’s Communities, Housing and Envi- ronment Committee when it con- sidered the future of the borough’s waste, recycling and street cleaning services.


Kent County Council would prefer this recycling to be sepa- rated, but Maidstone decided the current system was easier for res- idents to accommodate and use and was cheaper than twin- stream collections, which also had £300,000 start-up costs.


Maidstone will continue with a


weekly food waste collection and fortnightly collection of both re- cyclables and non-recyclables in separate bins. In addition, there is a charged fortnightly garden


of his council work related to waste.


Green Party spokeswoman Donna Greenan (pictured left) said: “The council has evidently gone for the cheaper option, pre- ferring to spend tax-payers’ money on other projects like the Lockmeadow complex.


“On the flip side, where people


live in communal blocks it’s hard to have separate containers and older folk can find it stressful hav- ing to use multiple containers. “My other concern is that a lot


waste collection service. Most councillors considered the current system worked well in the main, although there were com- plaints about non-collections and rubbish left as bins were emptied. Cllr Ashleigh Kimmance said 50%


of what could and should be re- cycled gets dumped in landfill.” The Green Party has called for recycling bins to be placed in town centre areas, so that con- tainers do not become too full. The borough council is in a partnership with Ashford and Swale contracting out the recy- cling service. But Maidstone will continue to operate its own street cleaning services.


News Off-road bikes


are conscated A TOTAL of 16 fines have been is- sued to nuisance motorcyclists in Harrietsham and Maidstone. Police used a drone to track sus- pected offenders, and five unin- sured off-road bikes were seized. Officers also issued 10 section


59 warnings to motorcyclists and 16 fines for breaching Coron- avirus regulations. On February 28, officers went to rural areas where complaints had been received about vehicles com- mitting offences on footpaths and in nature reserves.


Inspector Stephen Kent, of Maidstone’s Community Safety Unit, said: “Our officers are re- sponding to concerns raised about off-road motorbikes and 4x4 vehicles that present a poten- tial danger to others and affect the quality of life for communities. “We have had an excellent re- sponse from members of the pub- lic, who were pleased to see our efforts to prevent antisocial be- haviour in the countryside. “I encourage residents to report


incidents to us as this allows us to build a picture of the problem and deploy our patrols effectively.”


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