THERE is ‘real anger’ across Ceredigion over missed bin collections, with calls being made for the council to reconsider its refuse policy.

Communities such as Aberaeron, Aberarth, Clarach and Llanilar have had missed bin collections over the festive season and councillors are calling for change to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Aberaeron county councillor Elizabeth Evans told the Cambrian News: “There is real anger over the missed collections over the festive period.

“I have arranged a meeting with the council leader and chief executive next week to try and come to a cross-party agreement to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“These last few weeks have almost been a perfect storm with the ice, staff delivering water and sickness in the department.

“The volume of rubbish at this time of year is so large and people just want their bins collected.

“Residents are very angry and want answers. I hope we can come to an arrangement.

“The refuse collectors are the backbone of the council.

“I will also ask if consideration can be given to changing the collection day in Aberaeron and Aberarth from Mondays, as we are always hit on bank holidays.”

Tirymynach county councillor Paul Hinge has also been inundated with calls about refuse collection.

He told the Cambrian News: “For sometime now we have been experiencing intermittent non-collection of recyclable and in some instance food caddy waste…this has before this Christmas period been more prominent in the south of the county but has been a continued issue in my Ward especially in the Clarach/Llangorwen part of the ward which is on a different collection cycle to the rest of Bow Street.

“I have on numerous occasions pointed out that although recycling, by its very nature, could be rolled over for a week, food waste cannot and must be picked up to reduce the problems of vermin attacking the waste.

“I am fielding calls, answering disgruntled Council Tax payers on Social Media and being stopped in the street by normally very nice people who are outraged at the situation that has now manifested itself over this Christmas and New Year period.

“There was mention of ‘direct action’ against the council if this situation is not rectified at the earliest possible time.

“Living, as we do, in a predominantly rural area with six towns which are of historical prominence vermin sadly live around us all the time and what we don’t need to do is to encourage their population growth by not collecting waste in an appropriate and timely manner.

“Therefore I urge the leadership of the council to really think outside the box to address this issue and deliver the services the people of Ceredigion are demanding.”

A spokesperson for Ceredigion County Council said: "Unfortunately the waste collection service experienced network wide disruptions during the week commencing 12 December 2022 due to the wintry weather affecting safe access to some locations, the redeployment of staff to support the winter maintenance response as well as distributing water to our residential care homes following the significant disruption to water supplies following the rapid thaw during the following week.

"When this level of disruption is experienced, due to the cumulative nature of waste generation, it does present a particular challenge to recover which can also take time to achieve due to the amount of waste being presented on subsequent weeks, and this was compounded by the proximity to the festive period and the additional volumes of waste generated at that time.

"For Bank and Company Holidays, council waste collections are provided on a voluntary overtime basis by the same staff who work so hard throughout the year and in all weather conditions.

"Consequently, many haven’t had the opportunity to take the leave that they deserve and are entitled to as it is the same staff we call upon to carry out these tasks on our behalf.

"The council is extremely grateful to them for their efforts in delivering the service throughout the year.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and will aim to recover and collect all the waste as quickly as possible over the coming days, and is actively exploring options to increase the resilience of the service."

Cllr Evans confirmed that black bag and glass collections in the Aberaeron and Aberarth area have been re-scheduled for Saturday, with recycling and food waste being collected on Monday as normal.