Sign-ups soar ahead of final garden waste collection

WILTSHIRE Council’s garden waste collection scheme is exceeding expectations in the lead-up to the final free collection next week. Over 25% of households have already signed up to pay the charge. 

Over 50,000 households had paid their first annual £40 collection fee by Thursday 21st May, and more are expected to join the scheme despite more than 90% of residents voting against the change in last year’s consultation.

The paid-for collection service will start on Monday 15th June, after which anyone who hasn’t paid will not have their green bins emptied – the last opportunity for residents to have their green bins emptied for free will be on Monday 8th June.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said, “We already have more than 50,000 sign-ups.  We expect some residents to continue to sign up between now and 15th June when the free collections cease, and we shall accommodate them on our new collection rounds.

“The council is pleased with the response from residents to this new service, and officers have been working hard to ensure that all of these early sign-ups have been recorded and processed so that collections of these garden waste bins continues after 15th June.”

The figure of sign-ups in excess of 25% of roughly 200,000 homes in Wiltshire – a particularly high uptake for paid waste collection in the region.

Chargeable services in Mendip, Dorset, and Swindon all have uptake figures of roughly 15-17% of households.

Any households in Wiltshire not wishing to pay for garden waste collections can arrange to have their green bins reclaimed by the council. For more information about any of Wiltshire’s waste policies go to www.wiltshire .gov.uk.

Household recycling centres cut opening hours

In a further attempt to cut government spending, Wiltshire Council has announced the proposed closures and shortened opening times of Wiltshire’s 11 household recycling centres (HHRC).

All recycling centres will be open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but will be closed for two of the following four days.

Warminster’s centre on Furnax Lane will now be closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and open from 10am to 4pm from Friday to Tuesday.

Trowbridge’s Canal Road site will close on Thursdays and Fridays.

The changes will come into effect from Monday 13th July and dictate that household recycling centre opening hours will be from 10am to 4pm on each day they are open. All household recycling centres will open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, which are the days when usage is at its highest, along with two additional weekdays.

Bowerhill in Melksham will close on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Devizes on Wednesday and Thursday.