LIKE it or loathe it, fortnightly bin collections will be introduced by Bradford Council from April.

The move will come into force after successful trials in Wyke where recycling rates have leaped by 50 per cent.

Changing to fortnightly collections, alternating between general waste and recyclables, is aimed to save the Council up to £1 million a year - surely welcome news to finance chiefs at a time when every last penny in the public purse must count.

Bradford is the last of the five West Yorkshire councils to go down what was once considered a high-controversial route.

But politicians of all colours on the authority now seem to have been won over as to its necessity.

Some questions do remain, however, including:

  • Will extended households have sufficient bin capacity to store their rubbish for a fortnight at a time?
  • How do households with limited outside space keep bins in a hygienic way, particularly in warmer months?
  • What is being done to prevent overflowing bins littering streets and attracting vermin?
  • And foremost, what is the likelihood that this change in policy will add to the district's persistent problem of fly-tipping.

Yes, the trial results are encouraging, particularly in the rise if recycling rates which will go some way to reduce the ever escalating costs of landfill.

But the district-wide roll-out of this policy change must be accompanied by detailed plans to deal with both foreseen and unforeseen consequences which could jeopardise its laudable aims.