RESIDENTS have just under three weeks to have their say on potential changes to their future rubbish and recycling collections.
So far, more than 6,500 Wokingham residents have taken part in the Wokingham Borough Council survey.
However the council is urging residents who have not taken part in the consultation to complete it as soon as possible.
Cllr Ian Shenton, executive member for environment, sport and leisure said: “We sincerely thank all who have taken the time to share their thoughts with us and help shape their future rubbish and recycling collections.
“If you have not taken part, it’s time to come forward and give your views on how the potential changes would affect you.
“We know how important our waste services are to all residents, so we want to hear from as many of you as possible.”
The consultation seeks residents’ views on two options to potentially change how often rubbish and recycling collections are made.
The council is proposing general rubbish collections be changed from weekly to fortnightly or three-weekly, and recycling from weekly to fortnightly.
Under all circumstances, food waste would continue to be collected weekly and subscription-based garden waste collections fortnightly.
The council is also proposing to provide a wheeled bin to each household for storing general rubbish instead of using blue plastic bags, but keeping the green waterproof bags for recycling and the small black bins for food waste.
“We are all facing difficult times, and we need to work together to ride out the storm,” said Cllr Shenton.
“Changing how your waste is collected is vital to us in making savings that will protect essential services to support the most vulnerable residents in the borough.
“The sooner the changes are made, the more savings we would make. “
The consultation does not give the option to keep weekly collections.
Clllr Shenton said this is “simply not a possibility”.
He added:“We have been clear that if we have a choice between protecting our most vulnerable residents or keeping weekly rubbish collections, we are going to choose vulnerable people every time.
“When we started working on a new waste collection strategy, we were thinking that any changes would only come in at the end of our current waste collection contract in 2026.
“Since then, though, the cost of providing basic services is increasing dramatically, with inflation at a 40-year high and energy bills rapidly increasing.“
The council is looking to bring in the change as soon as possible, once the consultation finishes.
To carry on with weekly rubbish and recycling collections for next year, the council expects it to cost an additional £500,000.
Cllr Shenton said: “Where are we going to find that money? We are not going to cut services to adults and children’s social care to save weekly rubbish collections.”
A study showed that the council could save up to £1 million per year by changing the frequency of rubbish and recycling collections to fortnightly from 2026 and up to £1.8 million by having rubbish collected every three weeks and recycling fortnightly.
If changes were to be introduced earlier, £700,000 could be saved per year right away, and then the higher amount would apply from 2026.
The council also expects collecting general rubbish less frequently would drive up the borough’s recycling rate, reducing the amount of rubbish and carbon emissions.
All these together would help the council meet its climate emergency goals and comply with new government legislation.
The deadline for responses is Monday, December 5.
For more information, or to take the survey, visit: engage.wokingham.gov.uk
