Gloucester residents are fed up with “constantly overflowing bins” at The Saintbridge pond and nature reserve in Abbeydale was granted nature reserve status by Natural England in 2004 and it is loved by many. But nearby residents who litter pick around the area say the bins are not emptied by the council and have been “constantly overflowing”. Marilyn McKechnie, one of The Friends of Saintbridge Pond volunteers who litter pick around the area daily, said: "In 2020 I requested an extra bin on the dry balancing pond as bin number 0539 was constantly overflowing.
I was told this was being monitored. "I made a second request in June 2024 and was informed that this bin is monitored and rubbish is collected and emptied twice a week. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
” She said the last time the bin was emptied was Monday, August 5, and by August 15 it was overflowing onto the pedestrian path. "I constantly report this and other bins in the area,” she said. “Why do I need to do this?” (C, Abbeydale) says Gloucester City Council claim they’re on top of this, but they’re not.
He says he wants to scrutinise how the £9.5m spent on waste contractor Ubico is being used. “The council tried to say at the last meeting that the bins are now digitally mapped, and the emptying crews are recording them, but it’s all still a shambles despite that.
“That’s why I’m now very keen to look at all of Ubico’ s performance in some detail at the Overview and Scrutiny Mee.