A TORBAY JP has claimed residents were not consulted or forewarned enough over the great Torbay rubbish revolution.

Magistrate John Kiddey saw red when he came home from an overseas trip to find 'an array' of black plastic bins in his driveway.

He was even angrier when he received what he considered an unsatisfactory response from Torbay Council chief executive Elizabeth Raikes to his complaint about lack of consultation and practical problems with the new system.

Mr Kiddey, who lives in Whidbourne Avenue, said: "I knew the council was planning a change in the bin system only because I read about it in the Herald Express. I have received nothing in the post from the council, not a leaflet through the door — nothing whatsoever."

He said he wrote to his ward councillor, Neil Bent, who said he would ask the relevant officer to make contact.

Meanwhile, Cabinet member for community services, Dave Butt, also got in touch with the same promise.

But Mr Kiddey said that after two weeks he had not had a response.

He wrote to Mrs Raikes asking why officers had failed to respond to the councillors' requests.

"Please also explain why I have not been consulted about this dramatic change of refuse collection," he said.

He described the changeover as 'presumptive and pre-emptive' and asked why he has not been told on which day his bins will be emptied; asked how his wife is to move these wheel-less bins to the boundary especially when full of wet newspaper, and who will pay for the extra water used to clean items as instructed for recycling.

Finally he asks: "Who is to pay me for all the extra work in preparing waste for collection?"

"May Gurney is a private company which is surely in this business to make money from refuse.

"If they want householders to sort rubbish, drag boxes full of waste and wash items, then we should be told how much the going rate is for the job and we should be asked if we are prepared or, able, to do so."

He said he was also unhappy at the response he received which stated: "Mrs Raikes does not get involved with complaints at this stage as initially, complaints are dealt with by the service area concerned as they are best placed to deal with any queries or concerns raised by customers."

It said his complaint would be dealt with through the council's Corporate Complaint Procedure 'which ensures that customer's complaints are dealt with appropriately and within the correct time frame'.

Mr Kiddey said: "It smacks of arrogance. They did not even have the courtesy to copy in the two councillors who took it up on my behalf."

A Torbay Council spokesman said: "This complaint about a service will be dealt with through the council's complaints system. We are unable to comment on an individual's complaint."

A spokesman for Tor2, the joint council and May Gurney company, said: "We have put a lot of effort into communications about the improvements."

She said the boxes are deliberately designed to be easy to carry, as has the kitchen waste caddy to transport recyclable materials to the kerbside for collection or to the kitchen waste bin.

Residents are being advised to store the boxes indoors so they will not be full of rain and materials soaking wet when being carried to the kerbside.

Weekly collection of recycling (rather than the current fortnightly service) will also reduce the amount collected each week.

There will be less need to carry heavy bin bags of residual waste to the wheeled residual waste bin.

As to the request to wash some items, the spokesman said: "We would encourage residents to see this as something that is done as part of the normal food preparation and washing up tasks which will mean that no extra water is used. Recyclable materials could be washed last.

"While some residents may feel they are being asked to do more, the council [Tor2] will be providing more services for residents [weekly recycling and a collection of kitchen waste] and, due to the kerbside sort system, recycling collectors will be taking each and every recycling container and putting materials into separate compartments on the collection vehicles to ensure any contamination is isolated at source rather than causing problems in the automatic sorting process associated with the current co-mingled system.

"This will ensure purer materials and a better recycling rate.

"This is a positive outcome for all and we hope that residents will do their part to embrace the new services to ensure Tor2 can deliver the increased recycling rates and reduced waste to landfill that is needed in Torbay."