Plans to allow 26 feet-long extensions could be curbed, Eric Pickles says He said: "We haven't come to a final decision about how far we will allow permitted development to go out. The ones we were suggesting were pretty much a maximum. Those might be considerably less than that. In a wide ranging interview, Mr Pickles also spoke of his frustration that more councils had not accepted Government money to restart weekly bin collections. He blamed vested interests in the recycling industry who had "ganged up" on local authorities and frustrated the plans. He said: "The most enormous vested interests; the bin barons, the industry, the EU, the audit commission, all gang up on councils who wanted to be able to provide a decent service." Mr Pickles, who was born in Keighley, Yorkshire and is MP for Brentwood and Ongar in Essex, also said that the Tories had to do more to win over core Conservative supporters in the north of England. He said: "We're not weird. The north of England's not weird. Asked what the Conservatives should do to win more support, he added: "The same way you get votes in the south of England, and that is by application, by organising, and recognising why we lost out in the past, because the Tory Party started just to talk to itself in the north of England. It stopped opening its doors to other people. Mr Pickles also attacked the Local Government Association, the councils" body which has criticised Government spending and said they would hit frontline services. He said: "They are the voice of the officer class with the odd politician thrown in as a hostage handcuffed to the radiator and they occasionally speak. "The problem is that we've had the various stories people crying "wolf!," saying it's all going to be a disaster. Well actually with two and a half years on local government seems to be coping very well. Satisfaction with local government has actually gone up. He said the Government had to "address all of the hidden Spanish practices that exist," referring to councils not sharing more payroll and other back office functions. The interview was published hours after Mr Pickles had formally axed plans to impose a "conservatory tax" on middle class home owners. The change would have meant homeowners paid more to install energy efficiency measures in their extensions. However Mr Pickles told MPs on Thursday that the plans would now not go ahead, confirming reports from earlier this year. Mr Pickles said: "I believe that this Government should stand up for families who have saved, work hard and want to improve their homes. And we should resist attempts by clipboard-wielding state bureaucrats who want to interfere, regulate and tax an Englishman's home.