Garden waste collection service to be suspended in Flintshire from Monday

Flintshire County Council said it has taken the ‘difficult decision’ to amend some of its services from Monday, 23rd March.

Changes are in “order to support staff and the service as a whole during the Coronavirus outbreak.”

Garden waste collections will be suspended from Monday, 23rd March until further notice and instead priority will be given to collecting black bins, food waste and recycling.

“The move will allow our crews to concentrate on collecting black bins, food waste and recycling during the coming weeks and it will also assist with any staff sickness absence or self-isolation issues.” The council has said.

It's an emergency position. May be part year service but difficult to forecast. Refunds difficult with scarce staff & resources so probably carry forward to next year. More info to follow in week.

— Carolyn Thomas (@Carolynthomas03) March 21, 2020

Adding: “We recognise that residents have paid for the garden waste service this year and we will be considering whether subscriptions can be carried forward.”

The council is asking residents 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, the council says it has assessed the “availability of our workforce and have decided to prioritise services across the County.”

A Flintshire County Council spokespersons said: “Our priority is to try to maintain essential services throughout the difficult weeks and months ahead and to do what we can to support the health and well-being of all our staff and residents.

We are making this change now to make sure that we can prioritise services and provide them for as long as we possibly can.

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. 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.”