New Forest District Council suspends garden waste collection amid 'severe staff shortages'

NEW Forest District Council has suspended its garden waste collection service.

It will start from Monday and last a month, with the authority blaming "severe staff shortages" for the decision.

The suspension will allow staff to continue collecting household waste and recycling from the district's 80,000 homes as garden waste service staff will be redeployed to black and clear sack collections, it added.

The authority said it was likely to be for a minimum of four weeks, and will be kept under review, reinstating it as soon as possible.

Cllr Steve Davies, NFDC's cabinet member for environment and coastal services, said: "It is of course regrettable we are faced with this situation to suspend the garden waste service, but core services of residual waste and recycling must take priority.

"These staff shortages are due to a number of factors, including self-isolation and the national HGV driver shortage that has received widespread national press coverage, affecting services across the country. Officers are doing all they can to solve this and are working with agencies, and advertising for additional staff.

"I am sorry to any of our residents who use the garden waste collection service who may be inconvenienced by this and I ask for their understanding while we do all we can to enable the service to start again."

Updates will be added to NFDC's website https://www.newforest.gov.uk/gardenwaste the council said, adding garden waste can instead be composted at home or taken to a Hampshire County Council tips by booking a slot at https://www.hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/recyclingcentres/book-appointment