RYEDALE residents are being urged to put forward their views on plans by the district council to extend its refuse recycling.

Some 3,000 households are being asked for their views on the brown bin scheme which was introduced earlier this year to improve recycling and boost efforts to reduce and re-use waste.

John Davison, assistant chief executive for the council, said the feedback survey had been drawn up by members and staff who say it will play a vital role in ensuring that the scheme is providing the most efficient and cost-effective way of managing waste.

"It will give us information that we can work on to ensure that the services we provide work efficiently and effectively.

The move has been welcomed by Coun Howard Keal, who has been a critic of the system brought in as an experiment at Norton.

"All of us accept the need to increase levels of recycling and it is reasonable to encourage people to reduce the amount of waste being created.

"But the pilot scheme introducing fortnightly collections of general waste is continuing to cause problems for families. And it's arrogant to tell people they must accept this system like some nasty medicine because it's allegedly good for them."

Coun Keal, who represents Norton on the council, said: "Now is the time for people to put forward their views on how they see the system working. And it is important that they remember what it was like last summer with the hygiene problems which were created."

Coun Keal added: "It is important that this is not just a paper exercise and that what people say is listened to and acted upon. The scheme at the very least needs refining to avoid another high summer with problems of flies, foul smells and health risks."

He said he welcomed the decision by the council to have weekly collections restored over the Christmas and New Year period.

Updated: 12:01 Wednesday, November 19, 2003