'Pop-up tips are poor value for money': Dudley MP calls for new deal with Wolverhampton Council to share its tip

Last month Dudley Council announced it would be opening a series of pop-up tips serving the north of the borough at a cost of £120,000 a year.

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The new service is in addition to the borough's main tip in Stourbridge.

But Miss Kumar said the money would be better spent negotiating a new deal with Wolverhampton Council to use its site in Anchor Lane, Bilston. 

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, accused the MP of being 'deluded', and said the pop-up service was popular with residents, although he was continuing to seek a more permanent solution to the problem.

Dudley residents had been allowed to use the Bilston tip until April 2021, under a deal where Dudley paid Wolverhampton £200,000 a year.

But the deal broke down when Wolverhampton Council demanded an extra £133,000 a year for the service, an increase of 65 per cent. Wolverhampton Council said this would cover about a third of the tip's running cost.

Miss Kumar said this decision resulted in the immediate loss of the only permanent waste disposal site serving the north of the borough, leaving around 40,000 residents without a local tip.

She said the monthly 'pop-up tip' service, initially introduced in 2022, and reintroduced this year after a 12-month interval, would be operating for just 12 days a year.

"The temporary service costs the council roughly £120,000 annually, only slightly less than the contribution that would have been required to keep the Anchor Lane site open, while offering a fraction of the service.

“Residents in Dudley North lost their only permanent waste site overnight, and nearly five years later they’re still being told a once-a-month pop-up tip is good enough.

"People in Sedgley, Coseley and Gornal get 12 days of waste services a year, while residents elsewhere in the borough have access to a permanent facility.” 

"That simply isn’t fair.

“What’s even more frustrating is that the pop-ups cost around £120,000 a year — only slightly less than the increase that would have kept Anchor Lane open in the first place.”

She said residents in the north of the borough deserved a proper solution, not a temporary workaround that had dragged on for years

“Basic services should be fair across the borough. Dudley North should not be treated as an afterthought.”

But Councillor Harley accused Miss Kumar of being out of touch.

"The MP is deluded and needs a reality check," she said.

"We have put a considerable investment to provide pop-up tips for the north of the borough. She needs to talk to her constituents as they think they are popular and were disappointed to see them disappear last year. Now I’m pleased to say they will be back following our proposals to include funding in the recent budget.

"Clearly the MP doesn’t talk to her colleagues on the council,  as Labour councillors either voted against the proposal, or abstained at the recent budget-setting meeting.

"I can, though, inform residents that we continue to pursue a more long-term deal that includes a permanent site. Those talks will include either operating our own site within the north of the borough or agreeing an arrangement with neighbouring authorities."

He said Miss Kumar was wrong to say residents in the north of the borough only had 12 opportunities a year to dispose of waste. 

"They can if they want to have access to Stourbridge just like anyone else," he said.