Greens demand apology from Labour over “misleading” bin claims

• Bristol Green leader demands Labour apologise for “misleading the public” over plans to improve recycling in the city.
• Bristol Greens have accused Bristol Labour of “talking rubbish” and “not having Bristol’s best interests at heart”

Green Group Leader Cllr Emma Edwards has today written to the Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Tom Renhard to demand an “urgent clarification” over his “misleading” statements about the Council’s consultation on improving recycling and waste collections. The consultation, which was launched on 27th January, runs until the 10th March.

The call comes after Greens accused Bristol Labour of “talking rubbish” and scaremongering in an online petition launched by Cllr Renhard. The Labour petition claimed that the Greens had already decided to impose four-weekly black bin collections and to raise council tax by 15%. Neither claim is true.

Cllr Edwards’ letter reiterates that the consultation to improve the city’s recycling provision is still open and that no decisions had been made. She says that Cllr Renhard should encourage residents to take part through the official survey.

In her letter, Cllr Edwards points out that where Labour are in administration in North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils, those authorities have recently moved to three weekly waste collections and have also consulted on four weekly collections.

Cllr Edwards said, “I know Tom, and I am sure he would want Bristol’s residents to take part in the current consultation on improving Bristol’s recycling provision. However, some of the comments attributed to him are factually incorrect and need urgent clarification to make sure the public doesn’t get the wrong end of the stick.”

She continued, “We’re really driven to explore all the options on the table to sort out the dropping recycling rates we inherited in Bristol. This means that some things have to change, but we want to hear first from residents directly about how this could happen.”

“Unfortunately, Cllr Renhard has misled the public about decisions that have not yet been made, and I hope he will apologise.”

“Bristol Labour have been talking rubbish. They would much rather collect names on petitions to harvest email addresses rather than petition their government for adequate funding for local authorities.

“In other authorities consulting on the same issues, Labour have chosen to engage in governing as part of the administration rather than cause mischief with residents’ wellbeing.

“By attacking the Greens, not taking part in the committee system, and misleading the public, they’re not putting the best interests of the people of Bristol at heart. This is incredibly disappointing and we call on them to work cross party for better recycling for the city.”