Monmouthshire County Council has taken the difficult decision to cease the garden waste collections after Friday 3rd April until further notice.
The council has strived to deliver its waste and recycling services as far as possible, but the number of colleagues within the collections team having to self-isolate in light of the COVID-19 pandemic has made this position increasingly demanding. In addition, the government has requested non-essential services are locked down to preserve life and reduce the spread of the corona virus.
The safety of residents and our staff is paramount and reducing non-essential services will allow us to continue to deliver the priority waste collections.
We will continue to collect residual waste, food waste and recyclables as normal for as long as possible and releasing garden waste vehicles will help maintain these core services.
We are not offering refunds at this time. We recognise that our customers have only just paid for this service but we hope you can appreciate that this is unknown territory. We ask that you bear with us and we will do all we can to restart the service as quickly as possible. As the situation develops we will inform our customers how we may be able to compensate them for the lack of service during this period of uncertainty.
The call centre staff are dealing with high volumes of calls regarding the support required for those who need to “shield” and are vulnerable residents of our community with health conditions. Many who have been told to self-isolate are in need of support to collect food and medical supplies. I am sure you will understand their need is far greater than queries regarding garden waste collections.
More information and advice on managing your garden waste can be found here.
Thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Recycling & Waste Team
Monmouthshire County Council
MCC advice on bonfires now garden waste collections have stopped
Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for public protection, Councillor Sara Jones said:
“With all of us largely confined to our homes please ensure music levels are appropriate and if taking advantage of the fine weather to carry out garden clearance I ask you to think twice about a bonfire.
Good air quality is crucial for those with respiratory conditions, particularly at the moment, so if planning a bonfire make sure weather conditions are appropriate, burn dry material only and do not allow the fire to smoulder for long periods.”