Garden waste to be collected

THE collection of garden waste in Hart will resume following weeks of disruption due to the national HGV driver shortage.

The fortnightly service will begin next week following an ongoing review by Hart District Council and contractor Serco after the service was suspended early last month to protect core waste and recycling collection services.

Collections in the district are set to resume from Monday (November 22).

Serco has reportedly worked to recruit drivers in a competitive market by offering increased salaries and enhanced benefits packages, and is now in a position to provide a regular scheduled collection service. However, staffing levels will continue to be reviewed during the winter.

As it resumes, to provide a fair service to all garden waste customers the crews will be unable to collect extra garden waste. If they take extra waste from some customers, this will affect their ability to complete rounds, which would be unfair on those missed as a result.

The district council is anticipating that on the first collection a large number of full bins will be put out and customers are asked to bear with the crews as they work their way around the area.

Following the disruption, extra collections have now been added to all customers’ subscriptions. They will receive a letter four weeks before they are required to renew their subscriptions and this will display the new renewal date.

Cllr Alan Oliver, cabinet member for environment at the district council said: “This has been a frustrating time for our customers and we thank them for bearing with us while we work alongside our partners to reinstate the service. I thank everyone involved in getting us to this position.”

You can find the latest information at hart.gov.uk/waste-recycling