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Cabinet supports three-weekly waste collections

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PEMBROKESHIRE ​COUNTY COUNCIL’S Cabinet has unanimously supported the move to a three-weekly waste collection service.

Cabinet members met on Monday (Mar 19) to discuss the changes with a number saying they were originally against the changes but that they had seen that the new service would work.

The changes will mean that each household will have its residual waste collected on a three-weekly basis but recyclable waste will be collected on a weekly basis.

Residents will have the opportunity to purchase boxes for glass, paper and cardboard and a separate bag for plastic and cans.

Absorbent hygiene products will also be collected on a two-weekly basis and will be provided on application.
The Council has also held a lengthy consultation on the waste service and has hosted a number of Facebook live sessions to discuss a number of issues that people had.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Welsh Language, Cllr Cris Tomos​,​ said: “It’s been a long journey, over a year and a half now, since the waste working group met and went around Wales looking at other developments in other local authorities. From that working group and scrutiny there has been a considerable amount of consultation and we’re looking at the full conclusion of all that research and development.

“We’re also faced with an imminent need to review our fleet of waste collection vehicles so it is very opportune now that we do review the best method going forward by considering also that Welsh Government are putting forward quite stringent collection levels that we have to hit recycling rates and by 2019/20 Pembrokeshire and all counties in Wales will need to hit a 64% recycling rate.

“If we do not do that we will be fined £200 a tonne, and with our 70,000 tonnage of waste it would lead to, for every 1% below that target, a £140,000 fine and hitting 3 or 4% below that could result in a half a million pound fine for the authority and at this time of tightening budgets we do not want to spend our money on fines.

“We are proposing that we continue with the collection of the weekly recycling but enhancing that with glass collections moving from 2-weeks to 1-weekly, continuing with food waste but also looking at a more segregated kerb-side sorting of our waste and currently we have the orange bag and we would see that orange bag replaced with two collection plastic boxes and an additional bag so we are asking the residents, households of Pembrokeshire undertake a more robust weekly segregation of our waste.”

Council Leader David Simpson said he could see that the three-weekly system ‘could work’ for the large majority of people but said he was concerned that the bags could be left on doorsteps and blown away or they could be mixed up with other people’s bags and that he didn’t want seven or eight bags flying around every day.

Head of Environment and Civil Contingencies, Mr Richard Brown said: “There wouldn’t be an intention that a bag would just be left, the top box stacks on top of the bottom box and there is a lid on the top box to stop everything blowing around, when it’s emptied they can stack back inside each other and the bag could go in the top box so it won’t go anywhere.”

Cllr Bob Kilmister said he was concerned that people would be paying for the boxes and paying over the top of that to allow the council to recover the costs of them saying: “It doesn’t sit very easily with me because I don’t think it is the right thing to do.”

Cllr Tomos said it would depend on how many households took up the trolley system as to whether or not there would be additional costs.

Richard Brown added that he would expect them to come in under £30 a unit but that it could be £45 if there were less people taking up the service.

Cabinet members also debated changing Absorbert Hygiene products to a weekly collection but Cllr Paul Miller said there was no evidence to suggest that the change was required.

Cllr Miller went on to say that he had long been ‘sceptic’ of proposals to reduce residual waste collections to three-weekly and that it was something he had been ‘dead against’.

However, he paid tribute to the officers and councillors who had worked on the process saying: “This has been one of the best policy changes we’ve undertaken and I mean that in the way we have gone about this.

“This has been a really good engagement process with all members and I have learnt a lot, my knowledge of the industry has improved dramatically and I have genuinely gone from being against the change to being a big supporter.

“The reason that I am so supportive of these changes today is that the evidence from the consultants supporting us clearly shows that limiting residents’ residual collections is about the best way to change resident behaviour in favour of more recycling.

“We anticipate significant improvements in recycling rates as a result of these changes and that’s got to be a positive thing for everyone, including the future generations who will inherit the environment we leave them.”

Cllr Kilmister also moved an amendment that the words ‘full cost recovery’ be removed from the first recommendation and that it be replaced with ‘at a cost to be agreed’ and that the decision on that be delegated to the Cabinet member responsible for the waste service.
Cabinet members unanimously supported the recommendations.

Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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News

Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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