Snow hits waste collections in the South-East

The extreme weather has disrupted collections by local authorities in Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire, with more snow forecast in the South-East today raising the prospect of further disruption.

The Met Office has also issued severe snow warnings for London, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.

Welwyn Hatfield borough council in Hertfordshire explained that it had suspended all waste collections because icy conditions had made it unsafe for its collection contractor to access residential areas in their vehicles.

“The levels of snow and ice made it unwise to operate heavy machinery in built up areas, or for teams to be lifting and carrying heavy waste long distances over slippery surfaces,” it explained.

While noting that it would resume collections “as soon as possible”, the council told residents that today's disrupted collection would now take place on Christmas Eve (Thursday 24).

Watford borough council has also told residents there would be no collections today, and asked them to take their bins back inside and re-present them on Monday December 21.

Outlining plans to catch up with the missed collections, it said it planned to clear all today's work and some of Monday's on Monday, the rest of Monday's work and some of Tuesday's on Tuesday and the remainder of Tuesday's and all of Wednesday's on Wednesday – but noted that this would be subject to the weather conditions.

Collections by Maldon district council, in Essex, have also been suspended, with residents advised to present their waste on their normal collection day and the council said it would be collected “once it is safe to do so”.

Other councils to announce the suspension of their waste and recycling collections today include: Three Rivers district council, in Hertfordshire; Tandridge district council, in Surrey; and, Aylesbury Vale district council in Buckinghamshire.

St Albans city and district council in Hertfordshire explained the decision-making process used when suspending its collections today.

“The decision to make the collection, or to suspend, is taken by a senior manager in conjunction with our contractor immediately before the collections are due to start,” it said.

“In the event of a decision to suspend the collection, staff are retained until it is decided that collections during that day are impossible. Decisions are made on a day to day basis.

“When collections recommence, the priority is to recover the lost waste collection routes as early as practicable using all available resources,” it added.

Scheduled

However, some councils in areas affected by the snow and ice have stressed to residents that they are still offering waste and recycling collections today, as scheduled.

Hertsmere borough council said it was “working hard” to ensure collections could be delivered today.

Councillor Jean Heywood, environment portfolio holder, said: “We have been working hard to minimise any disruption to our services and our waste crews have been out as normal today.

“We are expecting some side roads to be impassable but any collections are unable to make today we hope to make tomorrow,” she added.

In Berkshire, Wokingham borough council advised residents to put out their waste and recycling as normal today, but revealed that, if collections were suspended, it would suspend Monday and Tuesday's scheduled green waste collections so that waste and recycling could be cleared before Christmas.