ONE of Cornwall’s MPs has added her voice to growing dissent at a decision by Cornwall Council to remove litter and dog poo bins from areas of housing.

The “precarious” financial position of Cornwall Council’s housing wing – Cornwall Housing Ltd – has led to the removal of many bins at or near council housing estates across the Duchy. The decision was slammed as “extremely short-sighted” at a council meeting last month.

Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, has now entered the debate after taking part in a volunteer litter pick around the Beacon in Falmouth last Saturday. “Removing bins from Cornwall Housing areas is deeply disappointing,” she said.

“We collected over 100kg of rubbish – four times the weight of the last litter pick in this area before the public bins were removed.

“I understand the cost pressures on Cornwall Council. However, under this Labour Government, the council received its highest funding increase since austerity last year and will benefit from this Government’s fair funding review and the stability of a three-year settlement this April.

“Public green spaces need proper waste facilities, and residents already pay Cornwall Council for services like bin emptying. It is not fair to try to transfer that responsibility to town councils with no funding to cover it.”

Ms Kirkham added that she written to Cornwall Council asking it to reconsider its decision, and to continue servicing “at least the key bins” in public spaces such as parks, green spaces, playgrounds and busy thoroughfares.

Cornwall Housing Ltd manages and maintains approximately 10,200 council homes on behalf of the local authority. The issue was originally raised at a full council meeting on September 16 as part of Conservative councillor James Mustoe’s Keep Cornwall Clean motion.

At a meeting of the council’s sustainable growth scrutiny committee in November, Cllr Laurie Magowan (Labour, Falmouth Arwenack) said 22 outdoor bins in Falmouth alone had been removed, along with many more across Cornwall “in areas … that traditionally have got larger areas of deprivation”.

He asked: “How will Cornwall Council respond to residents who understandably have concerns when council tax is very likely to rise next year and potentially rent is going up as well – essentially paying more for less?”

Cllr Peter La Broy, the Lib Dem/Independent administration’s portfolio holder for housing, answered: “The simple fact is that Cornwall Housing Ltd are in a precarious position where they needs to invest every penny they possibly can in upgrading the council stock.

“We have issues in terms of coming up to speed with some of our regulatory obligations. We’re just coming to the end of a programme of updating our stock condition surveys. We are meeting our obligations on gas and electrical safety checks. We do know that we have significant issues with meeting decency standards.

“As with many activities in the council, those which are not actual obligations are areas where perhaps small amounts of money can be saved and be put back into these issues.”