Garden waste collections in Flintshire suspended to ease pressure on staff during coronavirus outbreak
Garden waste collections in Flintshire have been placed on hold until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Flintshire Council said the “difficult decision”, which will take effect from today, had been made to ease pressure on staff.
Some residents have expressed frustration at the move after already paying either £32 or £35 for their brown bins to be collected this year.
But a spokesperson said it would allow crews to focus on picking up black bins, food waste and recycling instead, helping workers who are off sick or self isolating.
They said: “We recognise that residents have paid for the garden waste service this year and we will be considering subscriptions being carried forward.
“Residents are requested to consider home composting as much of their garden waste as possible.
“Following the government’s announcement earlier this week about stricter measures being brought in to protect the public, we have assessed the availability of our workforce and have decided to prioritise services across the county.
“Streetscene staff are working hard to continue providing essential services to the residents of Flintshire.
“Suspending the above services will take some of this burden off them at this difficult time.”
The cost of garden waste collections was increased this year from the previous amount of £30.
It was recently revealed that the hike in charges had netted the local authority an extra £38,000 with 19,000 people signing up.
Meanwhile, overall payments had generated an income of more than £600,000.
Regarding the decision to stop collections, the spokesperson added: “This situation is being constantly monitored and further updates will be provided.
“We know that changes to services are frustrating at any time and we apologise for any inconvenience, but we have to prioritise our services in what is an unprecedented situation and would urge people to be patient during this challenging time as we work to prioritise essential council services.”
By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter
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