TOUGH decisions faced by a cash-strapped council will be made more manageable if town hall bosses work like they did during the recent introduction of wheelie bins.

That’s the view of a senior member of Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet.

Councillor Nick Wallis was speaking during a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday (October 1) evening.

Wheelie bins were introduced in the borough earlier this year, almost 20 years after some other areas.

A wheeled bin review group, under the auspices of the place scrutiny committee, was set up last year to oversee the roll-out.

Coun Jan Cossins, vice-chairwoman of the scrutiny committee, summarised the review group’s final findings and recommendations for cabinet members.

She said: “The place scrutiny committee and a group of cross-party members worked on a task and finish review on the introduction of wheeled bins.

“We consulted with officers and residents at a very early date, to ensure that a smooth transition took place.

“This implementation was a success, with the exception of a few issues, which have since been addressed and resolved.

“However, we felt it was appropriate to keep an eye on recycling rates, fly-tipping, replacement bin costs and will monitor progress in 2014.”

Coun Wallis added: “I think this has been one of the most successful and productive pieces of work that cabinet and scrutiny have undertaken, the implementation went remarkably smoothly.

“Looking at some of the challenging things we have to do over the next few years, if we work as smoothly as we have on this matter, then that will be very successful.”