THERE will be opportunities to 'talk rubbish' at Skipton Market and at Kilnsey Show in August as part of proposals by North Yorkshire Council to make changes to its rubbish collections.

The council is half-way through a public consultation which aims to make recycling the same across all districts of the county. For Craven, it would mean every householder having two blue recycling bins - one for glass, cans and plastic, and one for paper and card. The fortnightly collections of non-recyclable rubbish, in the green bins, would continue as it does now. And people will still be able to opt in and pay for garden waste collections.

This, says the council, would: "provide best value for money because high-quality recyclable materials would be presented at the kerbside and sold to manufacturers who would recycle them to make new products.

"Two wheelie bins would also provide residents with more capacity to recycle as much material as possible. A third wheelie bin is provided for normal rubbish. Residents can continue to opt in for a garden waste collection should they wish to do so."

For those properties where storage or access is limited, alternative methods of collection will be used - such as sack collections, communal, or different sized bins.

Concerns about increased numbers of wheelie bins outside terraced properties, such as in Skipton, have already been raised at a full meeting of Skipton Town Council.

The council is asking residents to have their say through its online 'Let's Talk Rubbish' survey, which started on July 8 and is due to end on September 16. So far, more than 4,300 people have left comments.

The survey, which is illustrated with helpful pictures of bins, asks: "how full is your rubbish bin on a normal collection day?"; "what do you do with additional rubbish once your bin is full?", and "how often do you use your kerbside recycling collection service?"

Residents are then asked what they do with any additional recycling once their bin is full - such as storing it, taking it to a household waste recycling centre, putting it in the general rubbish; or dumping it in their neighbour's bin.

People are also asked how happy they are with recycling as it is now, and to put forward any ideas about how the council could improve the service.

In person events are due to take place at Skipton Market, from 10am on Wednesday, August 21; and at Kilnsey Show, Kilnsey, from 8.30am on Tuesday, August 27.

To take part in the online survey, go to: https://letstalkny.commonplace.is/