MAJOR changes are to be made to Thurrock's waste collection services – including switching the collection of ordinary household waste to a fortnightly basis.

The controversial plans, which include introducing new separate food bin and moving to fortnightly collections of general and garden waste, were rubber-stamped at last night's meeting of the ruling Conservative cabinet of Thurrock Council.

The cabinet selected option 2A on the table of options - see picture. They have dropped immediate plans to charge for collecting garden waste (brown bins) which will be collected fortnightly though the matter of charging remains on the agenda and is to be reviewed. A new weekly food waste collection is to be introduced.

Environment portfolio holder Cllr Aaron Watkins sped through the changes in a virtual presentation to colleagues who then backed the changes – prompting an immediate response from opposition councillors who have criticised the decision. Labour members say they are 'angry and annoyed' and have called on all residents to email the council leader Rob Gledhill and let him know how they feel.

Meanwhile members of the cross-party Waste Management Working Group, set up by the council to look at recycling comments have trashed the Cllr Watkins' assertion that they totally back the plans.

And the proposals have already angered workers who collect the bins – as they believe implementation will mean reductions in their pay and conditions.

The build-up to last night's decision can be found here.

You can read the full plan for Thurrock's refuse collection services here.

You can view Cllr Watkins presentation to the meeting here. He starts 18 minutes into the broadcast. After he spoke, members of the working party were praised for their work and said to be fully supporting the changes – a statement hotly disputed by chair of the group, Labour's Cllr Mike Fletcher and independent councillor Gary Byrne who have gone on the record saying their work has been misused and misrepresented by the ruling Tories and they do not support the plan.

A full statement confirming the changes and the reasons for them was issued by the council during last night's meeting.

It reads: "Recycling rates across Thurrock will be improved thanks to the new cross-party developed Municipal Waste Strategy for Thurrock approved at Cabinet this evening (11 November).

"The strategy, which was created by a cross party Waste Management Working Group comprising of members from Conservative, Labour and Thurrock Independent parties and chaired by Cllr Mike Fletcher, has been designed to help boost recycling rates in the next decade while ensuring that weekly collections of food waste and dry recycling are maintained.

"Other measures in the strategy include introducing new separate food bins, maintaining weekly recycling collections and moving to fortnightly collections for general and garden waste.

"Cllr Aaron Watkins, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "The cross-party Waste Management Working Group, made up of members across the Council, was setup with a recycling first focus. They have looked at the results of a public consultation carried out earlier this year and what other authorities with high recycling rates have done as well as examining every aspect of waste collection, disposal and recycling here in Thurrock. I am grateful for the thorough work carried out by the group.

"The working group have been working hard over the last 14 months ensuring a robust strategy would be produced. This strategy they have created will play a significant role in boosting recycling rates and building on the good work we have already been doing such as delivering a new recycling scheme to flats. By making sure that more of the borough's waste is reused or recycled we can cut down on harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

"Throughout this process, our hard-working staff have been at the heart of our conversations and have been fully consulted on developments.

"The approach approved ensures weekly collections will be maintained for the majority of waste, while helping to encourage residents into recycling more and wasting less."

"Cabinet has also recommended that the cross-party Waste Management Working Group continues to have a role in reviewing the progress of the implementation of the new Waste Strategy, including ongoing communications."

There was no mention during the meeting of the anger expressed by workers and comments from the Unite union and the threat made by some workers that they will strike in opposition to the plans - even though the council had issued an unattributed statement lambasting some members of the union in an earlier statement. Instead several councillors praised the bins collections staff.