South Holland garden waste scheme to expand with 5,000 extra brown bins on the way

The garden waste scheme in South Holland is going to be expanded - with the old purple sacks service now due to be axed.

Members of the district council backed a plan to purchase more than 5,000 extra brown bins at their meeting last week.

The expansion will help to create ten new collection routes and will also see the council buy a new refuse truck.

Three new staff - a supervisor, HGV driver and loader - will also be employed.

At the meeting, Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said that some of the more remote properties in the district will not be able to sign up, but that: “We are seeking to reach as many as possible who wish to take advantage of this scheme.”

An initial £29,000 would be spent on the 5,040-bin expansion - with the revenue generated by the service helping to fund new staff and software to manage routes.

There are currently 9,604 people getting a fortnightly garden waste collection - which costs £52 a year - which is up from 2,952 in 2016.

Some residents, however, still dispose of garden waste in purple sacks (these were formerly grey).

Coun Angela Newton said the expansion of the brown bin scheme was needed - given that people had spent more time in their gardens - but questioned what will happen to those with purple sacks.

Coun Gambba-Jones said the council would still honour the existing bags people had bought.

He said the system was an older idea that pre-dates his time as a councillor and added: “I think we have to face up to the fact it is becoming increasingly unacceptable to put green waste into the residual waste system.”

He added: “Times do change. What was acceptable 10 or 20 years ago is not any longer.”

Charlotte Paine, head of environmental and operational services, said that new legislation meant that garden waste had to be collected separately. She said the council will get in touch with those using purple sacks and discuss the changes.

Coun Gambba-Jones said that the council was relaxed about neighbours sharing a brown bin.

A document prepared for the council meeting projected that, with 15,000 subscribers, the scheme is projected to run at a surplus of £99,118.

A total of 2,000 people are said to be on the ‘register of interest’ because they want to join the scheme.

The council will also consult with staff on starting at 6am.