Leaked secret documents appear to support claims that Sutton Council should have held a public consultation on plans to axe weekly collections of household waste.

The borough’s brown bins will be emptied only fortnightly from April after the authority pressed ahead with controversial changes to the service earlier this month.

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The council claims the shake-up will lead to increased recycling rates because it is introducing weekly food waste collections.

But Conservative opposition councillors vehemently opposed the proposal, which was voted through on August 1, and said the council should have held a consultation to test levels of public support.

The council said last week a consultation would have brought a “risk of a legal challenge” from private contractor Veoila, which will take over the running of the service.

But a 2013 business case for the changes, compiled by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) which comprises Sutton and three other neighbouring boroughs, appears to suggest consultation was deemed crucial.

The papers, accidentally published on Merton Council’s website, read: “It is important that this consultation seeks responses to issues which residents can genuinely influence.

“Examples might include views on the type of receptacles used to collect materials, opinions on whether all aspects of the services should remain free or some could incur a charge.”

Tables and graphs within the leaked document also suggest that consultation was intended to play a key part in the progression of the change to services.

Cllr Tim Crowley, leader of Sutton Conservatives, said: “There is a potential negative impact of not consulting.

“Fine, if you have a huge front garden and have the space to put more bins out – but if you live in a little terrace house in the middle of Sutton that wouldn’t be the case. If there was consultation that caused even slight changes – that would have made a big difference for residents.”

A council spokesman said: “The views of local residents remain critically important and surveys and feedback will play an important role in the ongoing performance monitoring of future services across the four boroughs.”

A SLWP spokesman said: “At the start of the formal process it became clear the best way of guaranteeing competitive bids, delivering maximum environmental and financial benefits to all four boroughs, was to approach the market from a ‘solution-neutral’ standpoint and allow specialist companies to use their expertise to let the four boroughs know what were the best solutions.”