Court links rats to fortnightly waste collections

Oxford resident Frances Kennett, who has lived at her home in the city for nine years, withheld a month's council tax (£181) after claiming the city council's move to fortnightly collect residual waste had created a rodent problem in her neighbourhood.

When Dr Kennett appeared before magistrates last week, District Judge Brian Loosley said he had to impose a liability order on her for the amount she owed but refused to make her pay the council's legal costs – which is usually standard if a court finds against a case.

He is reported to have said: “I have every sympathy with her with regard to the rat infestation she has, which appears to be caused by the council's decision to move to fortnightly waste collections.”

Shocked

Oxford city councillor for a cleaner city Jean Fooks said she was shocked to hear the comments from the court.

She explained: “I'm amazed the judge said that, he had no evidence on which to base it. There is no evidence that this area or any other in the city has any problem with rats.
If you look at the rate of call outs, there was a slight decrease after collections changed in this particular area. Three years ago, it was 80 and this year, it was 40.”

Cllr Fooks said the council has sent investigators to Dr Kennett's home and that environmental health have said a broken drain under the house “is most likely to be the cause of any rats in the area”.

Dr Kennet referred to a parliamentary report which stated that alternate weekly collections are inappropriate for some areas (see letsrecycle.com story) and calims her neighbourhood falls into this category.

The report also recommends that weekly food waste collections be introduced alongside fortnightly collections. Cllr Fooks said the council has plans to do introduce these collections. It will send the material to a facility which the county council hopes to have up and running by April 2009. The tendering process is expected to begin this month.

Since fortnightly collections were phased in across the city from last October, its recycling rate has risen from 19% to 40% (see letsrecycle.com) . Cllr Fooks said most of the city's 50,000 households are happy with the service. She added from April to July this year, 21 households have been given fixed penalty fines for putting out extra bags or putting it out on the wrong day.