Dudley Council is currently under scrutiny following widespread delays in bin collections and growing dissatisfaction over pothole repairs. At a full council meeting on April 13, Cllr Adeela Qayyum highlighted significant issues affecting residents in her St Thomas’s ward, where some households have gone without bin collections for up to two weeks.
Cllr Qayyum expressed frustration, stating, “Residents have faced repeated failures in refuse collection. General waste hasn’t been collected for up to two weeks, green waste collections have been missed for as long as three weeks, and recently food waste and mixed recycling collections have also been disrupted. People are paying for services that are not being delivered, and this failure is eroding trust.”
The delays coincide with the council’s launch of a new mandatory food waste recycling service on April 6. Under this program, food waste is collected and transported to a Kinver facility where it is transformed into biofuel and fertilizer. Cllr Damian Corfield, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, acknowledged that the service is the most significant frontline effort Dudley Council has undertaken and admitted initial challenges have arisen.
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“We are in just the first week of rollout and have faced unprecedented volumes of waste,” said Cllr Corfield. “The service is about one day behind schedule overall. Staff have been working long hours, including weekends, to meet demand.”
Mechanical issues with the council’s aging fleet of bin lorries—some aged 16 to 17 years—have compounded the problem. However, Cllr Corfield reported that 56 new vehicles, ordered 18 months prior, are arriving gradually and will bolster the fleet over the coming two months.
Beyond waste management difficulties, councillors debated ongoing concerns about road maintenance. Liberal Democrat Cllr Ethan Stafford criticized the Conservative-led council for inadequate pothole repairs. He cited repeated complaints about deteriorating road conditions at Middletree Road in Cradley, where persistent potholes have damaged vehicles and posed safety risks.
Council leader Cllr Patrick Harley defended the council’s performance, noting the impact of an unusually wet winter on roads across the region. “While I don’t agree that we’ve lost control, the weather has caused widespread damage,” he said. “To date, we have resurfaced 200,000 square meters of road and repaired nearly 300,000 square meters across more than 3,000 locations. Quick fixes are sometimes necessary on dangerous potholes before permanent repairs can be made.”
Despite these explanations, residents remain concerned about service quality and infrastructure upkeep as Dudley Council navigates these challenges.