RESIDENTS on a new housing estate in Wellington who complained about dog and litter bins not being emptied have been left stunned after the developer removed all the bins.

The WWN had reported how people living at Cades Farm were concerned about the environmental risks of bags of dog waste being dumped next to children’s play areas.

Wellington Town Council took up the issue and forwarded emails of complaint to the estate developer, Persimmon Homes.

Persimmon replied that the bins were being misused and people should take their litter and dog waste home when the bins were full.

The company said it was therefore removing the bins so dog owners would have to take responsibility and remove their waste, and the bins would only be reinstated once Somerset County Council was about to adopt the area.

Town councillor John Thorne has now written to Persimmon asking for a site meeting to look at resolving the situation.

Cllr Thorne, who is also standing for election to the county council, said: “It is hardly an appropriate response for Persimmon to say because people have complained it is taking away the bins.

“The dog waste bin at Cades Farm is actually owned by the town council and was installed with the consent of Persimmon.

The fact the bins are often full to overflowing shows how badly they are needed and I have pointed out to Persimmon that I believe it has a duty of care to residents who have bought the houses the company has built.

“It is a basic customer service blunder on its part, in my opinion.”

Cllr Thorne said most of the issues residents were concerned about were likely to be resolved once the county council adopted the estate and was no longer private land.

“Persimmon seems happy as a private company to take the profits from selling its properties but unwilling thereafter to care about its customers,” he said.

“Therefore, I think we need to work towards public adoption of the estate as soon as possible.”