4,000 sign petition to save fortnightly bin collections

MORE than 4,000 people have signed a petition to save fortnightly bin collections in Wiltshire.

Back in March, a cross-party group of Calne-based Conservative and Reform UK county and town councillors launched the county-wide Say No to 3-Weekly Bins campaign.

The campaign opposes Wiltshire Council’s plans to reduce the collection of residual household waste from once a fortnight to once every three weeks from 2027.

At the same time, waste contractors will begin weekly food waste collections and soft plastics recycling which, argues the council, will reduce the amount of refuse in residual rubbish bins.

The council says it can save £3.4 million by moving to a three-week residual waste cycle.

But the campaigners say the move will hurt “those least able to absorb the impact,” including “elderly people managing chronic illness, families with young children, carers supporting relatives with disabilities and households already under financial strain.”

The petition closed on 30th April, with 4,064 people having lent the campaign their support.

Changes to waste collection will be discussed at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday 19th May.

The campaign organisers – Cllr Augusta Urquhart-Nicholls (Calne Chilvester and Abberd, Reform), Cllr Ashley O’Neill (Calne Rural, Conservative) and Cllr Mike Sankey (Calne North, Reform) – are urging residents from across Wiltshire to write to their ward councillors before the meeting, asking them to support the campaign. They are also urging any member of the public who feels strongly to register to speak at the meeting.

Cllr Urquhart-Nicholls said, “We are absolutely delighted with the outcome of the petition, which has now secured over 4,000 signatures. This demonstrates a very strong level of public engagement and concern on this issue. Notably, the response significantly exceeds that received for the Liberal Democrats’ Our Local Plan consultation last year, highlighting just how important this matter is to residents. We are now encouraging supporters to contact their local Wiltshire councillors directly, to ensure they are fully aware of both the petition and the scale of public response. We also warmly invite members of the public to attend and speak in support of the petition at the Full Council meeting on 19th May. As always, residents have the opportunity to address the council for up to three minutes on any agenda item.”