Solicitor wins Ombudsman backing over bin collection

3:27pm Tuesday 12th August 2008

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SOLICITOR Roger Houlker has won his two-year battle to have a second wheelie bin.

Mr Houlker had to make regular 12-mile round trips to the nearest tip to take waste which would not fit into his 240-litre bin.

Mr Houlker complained Congleton Borough Council refused to collect all his non-recyclable household waste and refused to supply him with a second wheelie bin.

He said any extra waste he placed out for collection was left behind, and vermin and animals ripped the bags open, which he had to clear up.

Mr Houlker, who lives in Swettenham, complained to the council and subsequently the Local Government Ombudsman, who found the council guilty of maladministration leading to injustice.

Ombudsman Anne Seex said the council should pay Mr Houlker £250 for his time, trouble and costs in taking waste which would not fit into his bin to the tip.

“The council has apologised, and explained its response in this case falls far below the standards it sets for itself and normally achieves,” said the Ombudsman.

“The chief executive assures me he was not made aware of the issue, and if he had been would have intervened to put matters right sooner.”

She said the council had apologised to Mr Houlker, and had supplied him with a second bin for as long as he needed it.

Mr Houlker has asked for the £250 to be donated to the Victims of Crime Trust.

The Ombudsman’s report will be considered by the council’s Standards Committee.