A Cumbrian council, aiming to harmonise its waste and recycling collections, has reassured people that a decision to charge people for their garden waste will not be taken until next year.
Westmorland & Furness Council has agreed steps to make sure that every resident from Barrow to Penrith has the same service.
Part of the recommendations are to investigate introducing a charge for garden waste.
It will also weigh up whether partial charging or free collections would be options.
The authority said no decision had been made, but would be part of its budget discussion early next year.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet today, September 9, councillors agreed a series of recommendations to support a new harmonised waste and recycling service for the area:
- The roll-out of an in-house waste and recycling collection service
- Adoption of alternate weekly residual waste collections using a 240 litre wheelie bin
- Adoption of an alternate weekly recycling kerbside collection service using two 180 litre wheelie bins
- Provision of bespoke service arrangements for residents that cannot adopt wheelies bins
- Agreed to harmonising charges for garden waste for the 2026/27 financial year as part of the council’s annual budget setting process.
Councillor Giles Archibald, Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet member for climate, biodiversity and environmental services, said: “I have seen some reporting and commenting in the past week suggesting we were about to agree today to start charging everyone for garden waste.
“That isn’t the case. What this recommendation says is that we will make any decision on charges for garden waste as part of our budget discussions, which take place early next year.
“That is so that we can consider the financial implications of charging or not charging against our overall budget position, which is a sensible thing to do before we make any final decisions.
“On the issue of charging for garden waste, we are determined to have a uniform approach across the council area and today’s cabinet report lays out various options that are still on the table for garden waste collections, including free collections, partial charging and full charging.
“The decision as to whether to charge, and how much to charge, is a matter for full council and will form part of its budget review.
“However, I can confirm that the current view of this administration – based on the information currently available – and my recommendation to full council and to the public, will be that we do not charge for the first garden waste bin, but charge only for any second and subsequent bins for garden waste.
“I want to reiterate that we are not taking a decision on garden waste charging today. It will be a decision taken as part of the overall consideration of the budget and budget pressures and will be part of the budget discussions taking place later this financial year.’’
Currently, Westmorland and Furness Council carries out 7.5 million collections annually from 117,000 households in a geographic area of 1,500 square miles.
Almost 3,000 took part in a consultation about proposed changes to the service last year and 4,300 people took part in a consultation over the summer.
The council also ran pilot trials of different collection methods in Ulverston and used wheelie bins instead of bags for general waste in Penrith, giving residents in the trial areas the opportunity to try out changes and share their experiences.
The first changes to collection services are expected to begin rolling out in the next few months, but the full implementation will take some time to complete.
Councillor Archibald added: “These are services that affect almost every household in Westmorland and Furness, and over the past year residents have played an important role in shaping the outcome.
“Their input has been invaluable in helping us to reach this point, and we are grateful for the constructive feedback that has informed our decisions today.
“We want to make it easier for people to do the right thing, especially against a background of a cost-of-living crisis, so that together we can maximise the use of resources and minimise waste.
“The decision today marks the start of what will be a complex process to roll out the changes to all areas of Westmorland and Furness.
“This will take some time to complete, with the introduction of new systems, vehicles and collection arrangements being implemented over a period of years.
“This phased approach will ensure services are reliable, sustainable and tailored to meet the needs of residents, while allowing time for teams and communities to adapt smoothly to any new arrangements.”
