An enquiry has found that residents were not informed about hundreds of cancellations after a major fire at a refuse site in Richmond.
Around 362 bookings were cancelled without notifications due to a systems error after the Townmead Road centre in Kew was closed after a fire in June.
However, the council has said bookings were “quickly identified” and “rectified.”
The ‘re-use and recycle' site closed temporarily after a fire on June 20 in which 100 tonnes of waste were alight.
Richmond resident, Jordan Edwards, said he was notified of several people who had not been told that their appointments had been cancelled. Some of whom were turned away after arriving for their appointment at the site.
Mr Edwards called the council’s approach “disorganised”.
‘Having heard from friends that their appointments had been cancelled without notice, I was eager to see how many others had been affected.
“I find it hard to believe that the Council are unable to notify those who had made appointments by other means and shameful that as far as I could tell, those with appointments would not have known about the centre’s closure unless they follow the Council’s Twitter account.
“The response to this particular incident appears to reflect a Council that is completely disorganised and slow to respond to the needs of residents,” he said.
A spokesperson from Richmond Council has said: “Following the major fire and consequential closure of the Townmead Road Re-use and Recycling Centre on 20 June, unfortunately, a system error occurred with the external booking system.
"This meant cancellation confirmation emails failed to send to those with appointments on Tuesday 22 June.
"The booking system is run by a service provider contracted to West London Waste Authority and is therefore outside of Richmond Council’s control.
“Once Richmond Council was alerted to the system error, an email was immediately sent on Tuesday 22 June apologising to those who had been inconvenienced. Richmond Council is keeping residents updated on Townmead Road’s partial reopening via its website, social media channels, e-newsletter and emails to Townmead Road customers.”
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