Hounslow Council 's leader has hit back after being branded "too cowardly" to face the public over the garden waste "debacle".
Steve Curran was due to lead a Cabinet Question Time event, giving residents the chance to grill council leaders, at Feltham Assembly Hall on Monday (July 4).
However, the council announced on Wednesday (June 22) that the meeting had been postponed and would now take place later this year, with a new date yet to be announced.
A council spokeswoman said the meeting was being rescheduled as the original date clashed with other council commitments for cabinet members.
'Afraid to face residents' wrath'
But Liz Mammatt, who chairs the Feltham and Heston Conservative Association, claimed cabinet members were afraid to face difficult questions over recent changes to garden waste collections.
"Socialist Hounslow Council is too cowardly to face the public over the debacle of the new garden waste 'service'," she said.
Ms Mammatt said she had submitted a question for the meeting, asking how much had been reimbursed to people who signed up for the service but failed to receive their new bins, bags or tags on time.
"The Labour council, unbelievably, proceeded on June 22 to cancel this Question Time!" she said.
"One deduces that they are afraid to face residents' wrath over the disastrous and incompetent introduction of this scheme."
'Clearly still bitter'
Mr Curran said Ms Mammatt was "clearly still bitter" after failing to be re-elected as a councillor in 2014.
"As usual, Liz does not want the facts to get in the way of a so-called good story. Cabinet Question Time has not been cancelled, it will go ahead in September," he added.
"We are committed to meeting residents from across the borough in an open forum. This was demonstrated in February at Cabinet Question Time held with residents in Chiswick.
"It's a shame Liz was absent from that meeting."
£50 garden waste charge introduced in April
A £50 annual charge for garden waste collections was introduced in April this year.
But the implementation did not go smoothly and the council was forced to apologise following accusations the new service was in "meltdown".
The council's first question time event took place in Chiswick in February, and the council said it had been a "great success".
