A DECISION is expected to be made in the coming week on controversial plans to pilot a three-weekly black bin collection scheme.

The Leader previously reported how Flintshire Council's cabinet agreed the scheme in January - after the authority failed to hit targets - only for it to be called-in by opposition councillors in February.

At last month's cabinet meeting, chief officer for Streetscene Katie Wilby reminded members that the authority was still at risk of being hit with a six-figure infraction fine from the Welsh Government for failing to achieve the recycling targets, but that work is still carrying on in the background to try and find solutions.

The authority’s ruling Labour led cabinet opted to postpone making their final decision, with the aim of improving the county’s recycling performance - wanting to look more closely at views expressed by the council’s environment scrutiny committee.

Cabinet members will meet on Tuesday and will be asked to confirm or amend their previous decision.

Buckley Councillor Richard Jones, one of six members who called the scheme in, told the Leader: "Our view was that we certainly don't want to lower the frequency of the collections.

"We think it's more down to education and communication with people to help them understand why it's so important to recycle.

"We also think there's a better way of doing collections to flats and houses of multiple occupation.

"There's better practice in other areas where they're able to collect the recycling there - and most of these areas in Flintshire are not collecting it, which becomes part of the problem.

"There are other things the council should be doing before it goes down the route of running a pilot like this."

Speaking of the reaction of residents when the plans were first announced, he added: "Most people really couldn't understand it.

"They were not very happy with the idea it could be collected three or four weekly."

Finally, on his message to the cabinet, he concluded: "Consider that we have had, in the past, the same residents and have reached 70 per cent recycling.

"We just have to educate and reinforce that message.

"We don't want infraction fines from the Welsh Government and we want to recycle as much as we possibly can to reduce the cost to the council and residents."