Proposed changes to Daventry district's bin collections opened up to public comments

Changes to Daventry district's bin and recycling collections will be opened for the public to comment on.

Backed by councillors last night the consultation runs until 5pm on Thursday, 31 March 2016 and all residents and local businesses are encouraged to get involved.

The council is now seeking the public’s views on the option for the service which seems to best meet future requirements. Called a ‘1-2-3’ service, it proposes (1) a weekly food waste collection, (2) a two-weekly recycling collection and (3) a three-weekly general waste collection.

In June 2018, Daventry District Council’s current waste and recycling contract with Amey/Enterprise will end. When this happens, the cost the council will need to pay to deliver the service will be considerably higher. This is partly due to the considerable drop in prices received for recycling materials which is unlikely to change in the future.

DDC's current and proposed replacement bins serviceDDC's current and proposed replacement bins service
DDC's current and proposed replacement bins service

Currently the service costs about £750,000 a year to run and if DDC carries on with the same service, the cost is likely to be at least £1.25 million per year higher.

With local authorities needing to meet higher recycling targets in the future, DDC is also trying to ensure that a minimum 45 per cent of waste is recycled.

Reports put before the committee on Thursday night said the council had looked at a wide range of options for how best to provide waste and recycling service in a way that could be afforded, complied with the law and changed things people particularly didn’t like.

For more details and to complete the consultation survey and view FAQs about the proposals, visit the council’s website at www.daventrydc.gov.uk/wasteoptions2018. Alternatively residents can request a paper copy by calling 01327 871100.

DDC's current and proposed replacement bins serviceDDC's current and proposed replacement bins service
DDC's current and proposed replacement bins service

Councillor Jo Gilford, Daventry District Council’s environment portfolio holder, said: “It’s important that we receive the views of residents and local businesses on these proposals. This will help us ensure we do the best job we can in designing a service that meets residents’ needs and is affordable to run, complies with the law, and protects our environment.

“These views will be considered and a final decision made in the summer. Once the Council has made a decision on the design of the service, it will consider which ways are best to deliver it. This might involve another external contract, the Council delivering the service itself, or working with other councils to provide a shared service.”

The 1-2-3 proposal follows a waste options appraisal carried out by the council, which looked at a wide range of options for the service. This included exploring waste collections from once a week to once every four weeks.

A group of residents from the Daventry District People’s Panel, and DDC staff as well as some outside experts were engaged to think about the different things that might work. Consultants were then asked to look at all the options, so that those that worked best could be identified.

DDC announced it was looking at making changes to the bin and recycling collections last week and Cllr Jo Gilford spoke to the Daventry Express about the proposals.

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