Contractor told to 'step up' on overflowing Shropshire bins

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has been sent photos from across the county that shows the severity of the issue.

At the Mere in Ellesmere, one bin was so full that takeaway boxes and drinks were placed on top of it. A Greggs bag was also strewn across the floor alongside bottles of water and alcohol.

Bins were also bursting in Market Drayton. Photos taken by the town council show Domino’s takeaway boxes stuck at the top of a bin alongside a can of Rio, while a Yazoo milkshake is sat beside it along with a packet of Haribo sweets and Greggs packaging.

Meanwhile, in Whitchurch, photos show a bottle of diet coke – not fully drunk – just about placed in a bin, while another shows remnants of someone’s takeaway.

Many towns and parishes also report that grass was not cut, leading to overgrown verges by the side of roads and overgrown play areas.

The issue centres on Kier taking over the contract from Iderverde, with the transition causing delays. Shropshire Council says the issues will be sorted by the end of the month, with the collection service now being digitised.

“Idverde were delivering the service, and not very well, to both collecting bins across the county, and cutting grass,” said council leader Cllr Heather Kidd.

“From bitter experience over the last several years, certainly the grass cutting has been appalling. So much so, that some of my play areas turned into hay fields, and then when they were finally cut, children couldn’t even play in those play areas because of the deep, rotting hay.

She added that Kier was taking the work back on, and did not have the right mapping for bins on its routes.

“We do intend to bring this in-house eventually," she said. "We have put even more pressure on Kier to start delivering, and they will all now be working a 10-hour shift, both to cut grass and to empty the bins.

Overgrown grass in Market Drayton. Picture: Market Drayton Town Council

“This is not a situation anybody is proud of. We apologise to everyone, and we are trying really hard to make sure that Kier step up to the mark with a contract that we are stuck with at the present time. But we do think that the answer is to bring this back in-house, so we can control it for the future.”

Councillor Rosemary Dartnall said that Idverde stopped collecting bins in Shrewsbury two weeks before the contract ended, and now Shrewsbury Town Council (STC) has taken over the work.

“I’m glad STC has taken it on, otherwise Shrewsbury will be in the same state as other towns like Ellesmere, Market Drayton and Ludlow,” said Councillor Kidd.

“Even my village [Chirbury] has the problem. Mainly because they haven’t mapped the bins – they don’t a mapping system. But they now map them so we now know where they are. It’s a shocking contract that has allowed that to happen in the first place.”

A Kier spokesperson said: “We have been working with Shropshire Council on a street scene service transformation programme, including the transition of services to Kier from 1 April, with a number of new colleagues joining under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations).

“As part of the transition, all bin collection routes have been optimised and a new digital mapping system introduced to improve long-term efficiency.

“Unfortunately, a specialist litter bin vehicle for larger bins has been delayed by the manufacturer, but interim arrangements are in place. Grass cutting is being delivered in line with the schedule published on the Shropshire Council website.

“Together, these changes led to a small number of missed bin collections during the transition period, but Kier and the new team are working hard to restore services to normal levels following this brief disruption.”

Idverde was approached for comment.