Plans to harmonise Westmorland and Furness Council’s waste and recycling services have taken a step forward.
At a meeting of the council’s Cabinet (9 September), 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 wheeled bin
- Adoption of an alternate weekly recycling kerbside collection service using 2 x 180-litre wheeled bins
- Provision of bespoke service arrangements for residents that cannot adopt wheeled bins
- Agreed to harmonising charges for garden waste for the 2026/27 financial year as part of the Council’s annual budget setting process. Any proposed changes to fees and charges will be presented for approval, as part of the budget report, to Full Council.
Councillor Giles Archibald, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services, clarified that the recommendation relating to garden waste does not mean a decision has been taken on charges for garden waste collections.
Councillor Archibald 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.’’
Councillor Archibald welcomed today’s decision on residual (general) waste and recycling collection frequencies and the containers to be used as an important step towards creating a new unified service for the whole of Westmorland and Furness.
He continued: “By harmonising services across the whole of Westmorland and Furness we will support our communities to reduce waste, recycle and reuse more, promoting a circular economy, achieving net zero, protecting our natural environment and supporting financial sustainability.
“Harmonisation makes sense from an equity viewpoint, as well as to achieve cost and carbon efficiencies, maximise the recovery and recycling of valuable natural resources, protect the environment and it reflects the feedback we’ve received from thousands of our residents over the past year.’’
Currently, Westmorland and Furness Council delivers 7.5 million collections annually to 117,000 households in one of the largest and most rural unitary local authority areas in the country, covering a geographic area of 1,500 square miles.
The recommendations agreed at today’s Cabinet meeting were drawn up to reflect the feedback from extensive community engagement and consultation over the past year, with almost 3,000 people sharing their experiences of the current collection service at the end of last year, and more than 4,300 residents across the area sharing their views in a more recent consultation over summer.
Alongside this, the council also ran pilot trials of different collection methods in Ulverston and using 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 continued: “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.
“As the changes are rolled out we will be keeping residents informed and updated throughout.’’