Garden waste collection service update

Wealden District Council was forced to cancel collections from the end of March due to staffing levels in the aftermath of Covid-19.

But the council said this week it had agreed an arrangement with waste contractor Biffa to enable staff to resume the garden waste collection service from Monday April 20.

A council spokesperson said, “We originally announced suspension of the garden waste service for a four week period but we have worked hard with Biffa under difficult circumstances to bring the service back after only a three week gap.

“People will be aware that special social distancing measures to protect the public are still in place, and please note we will continue to keep staff availability under close review. While we are hopeful a subsequent suspension of this service will not be required, should it be necessary in order to prioritise our essential waste and recycling collections, we will do so and of course inform customers immediately.

“Although many people will have been making use of the time at home to keep their gardens tidy, please do not leave extra garden waste on top of or around the bin as it will not be removed. Please also do not overfill the garden waste bin or make it too heavy as this could result in the bin not being emptied or it getting damaged.

“We are very grateful to our garden waste customers for their understanding and support during this difficult time we all face together and, to ensure people are not disadvantaged in any way by the period the service was suspended, we will be extending the next garden waste service year starting July 1 2020 by an extra month, making it 13 months for the price of 12 months.

“The licence label people will receive may still say it is valid until June 30 2021 but we will not be asking customers to pay for July 2021 collections and the following renewal will start from August 1 2021.”

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