Residents across the borough and in towns including Southall, Greenford, Ealing, Acton and Northolt have asked the council for more information on why their rubbish collections from the council’s in-house refuse collection company Greener Ealing have been missed and delayed.
Over the past week, Ealing Council has been telling residents in various areas in Ealing that their collections will be delayed due to “operational constraints”.
And now, council leader of Labour-run Ealing, Councillor Peter Mason has said the “cause” is Brexit and claims it has been ongoing for a long time.
In a tweet response from a resident yesterday (11 August 2022) asking what is going on, Councillor Mason replied:
“We’ve been really quite open about it. We have a shortage of HGV drivers able to drive the refuse and recycling trucks. The cause is Brexit, a restrictive immigration policy, and a Govt without a plan to secure enough HGV drivers to go around for goods, petrol and more.”
Oh, we’ve been really quite open about it. We have a shortage of HGV drivers able to drive the refuse and recycling trucks.
The cause is Brexit, a restrictive immigration policy, and a Govt without a plan to secure enough HGV drivers to go around for goods, petrol and more. pic.twitter.com/hj4Fss5Shh
— Peter Mason (@_petermason) August 11, 2022
His reply saw other residents responding and further question Ealing’s growing problems with refuse collection.
One resident said: “Not quite understand this, so all through Covid no issues with the collections, but suddenly you have lost drivers, may this be because other companies are paying more and you now can’t get cheap labour.”
Throughout the week, the council posted links informing residents that delays are still ongoing and when it was likely that the named areas will be completed.
But until now, no one from the council has posted any details as to what are the “operational constraints” and how how long it will last for.
“No one is telling us what is going on, the delays are just ongoing and frustrating especially when things are starting to smell and flies are being attracted to the rubbish,” one Ealing resident told EALING.NEWS.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of the Opposition on Ealing Council said: “There have been numerous problems with Ealing Council and their waste contractors. This has left many residents with dirty streets, appearances of uncollected flytips and it generally makes the borough look untidy. Ealing Council needs to redouble its efforts to improve the cleanliness of our streets across the whole borough.”
Previously, in July, “operational constraints” was given as a reason for delays to collections.
“The phrase “operational constraints” is pretty vague. Residents deserve more forthright communications,” posted Phil Taylor in a tweet on July 15 to the council.
EALING.NEWS has contacted Ealing Council for a comment.
