Assurance Given for Review of New Litter and Dog Waste Bin Policy in Blaenau Gwent

ASSURANCE have been given that a new litter and dog waste bin policy will be kept under constant review to ensure they are best placed to combat dog poo hot spots.
At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday, January 10, councillors looked at a proposal for a new litter and dog bin policy.
The new policy is needed as part of an overarching strategy to deal with fly-tipping in the county borough to 2026.
The report explains that there are 622 litter bins and 491 dog waste bins at various locations across Blaenau Gwent.
The cost to install or replace a bin on average costs £275 each and there is an annual budget of £12,000 for the scheme.
Cabinet member for Social Services Haydn Trollope said that he wanted “assurance” that the bin locations would be “looked at again” in the future.
Cllr Trollope said: “In Tredegar the complaints that we have are not from the town centre but the back lane where dog walkers go and are not picking up the mess.
“We really need to look at where this is happening and amend (the policy) if needed.”
Director of Regeneration and Community Services, Ellie Fry said: “I agree with you.
“We need to monitor this as it’s implemented so that we’re keeping track of those complaints that are not being answered by this policy change.”
Councillors unanimously approved the policy.
Between April 2022 to November 2023 there were 114 requests for a bin to be replaced or an additional bin to be installed.
The council allocates an annual budget of £12,000 for new or replacement bin and there are currently 63 requests for the council to deal with.
The policy also explains that the process for replacement and new bins is decided on a points based system.
The criteria for assessment includes how far away the bin site is from shops and facilities such as schools.
How many requests as well as who has asked for a bin is also taken into consideration.
When the policy was discussed by a council scrutiny committee in December it was revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic council workers picked up an average of a tonne of dog waste from bins every. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​