Herefordshire Council is extending its consultation of local people on how household waste should be collected and recycled in future. As more and more local residents contact the council's web site to make their views known, the deadline has been put back to 10 July.
The council has proposed that it continues with its 'black bag' weekly collection service, rather than moving to fortnightly collections like many other local authorities. It has also decided against national ideas about inserting microchips in wheelie bins to record how they are used, and has rejected any moves to impose draconian rules or fines.
Instead, the authority wants to know what people think about the idea of using wheelie bins for collecting a wider range of recyclables, such as glass, every two weeks. This would enable the council to provide a kerbside recycling service to every home in the county, an improvement on the current 72 per cent of households.
Herefordshire currently recycles 30 per cent of its household waste but needs to do more to meet a government target of 40 per cent by 2010.
According to a web 'blog' discussion site set up by the council, there are mixed views on wheelie bins and whether they are suitable for all locations.
"Herefordshire people care very much about how the council collects and disposes of the waste we all produce", said Councillor John Jarvis, cabinet member for environment. "We listen to and value all views, as this will help us come to the right decision.
"The online consultation is proving to be very popular and the numbers of people logging on and having their say shows no sign of slowing down. For this reason we are extending the period of consultation for a few more weeks until Thursday 10 July".
People can have their say by visiting the online waste discussion forum or they can speak to an advisor by telephoning the council on 01432 260051.