Thousands of people have already shared their views on options for future waste and recycling services in Westmorland and Furness.
The first two weeks of a new community consultation has seen nearly 2,700 residents provide feedback on options such as the sizes of containers, frequency of collections and full or partial subscription charges for green waste collections.
The consultation runs for another six weeks, so if you haven’t already had your say there is still plenty of time to share your thoughts and comments.
You can also find out more about the consultation options, ask questions and discover more about waste and recycling services at a series of informal drop-in sessions in June.
Our waste and recycling engagement team will be happy to chat and discuss the proposed changes at the following locations:
- Saturday 7 June, 10am-12pm: Alston Repair Mill
- Wednesday, 11 June, 9am-2pm: Kendal Market
- Friday 13 June, 9am-2pm: Barrow Market
- Saturday 14 June, 9am-2pm: Appleby Market
- Tuesday, 17 June, 9am-2pm: Penrith Market
- Thursday, 19 June, 9am-2pm: Ulverston Market.
Councillor Giles Archibald, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services, said: “We’ve already had a fantastic response to our community consultation, with nearly 2,700 people contributing their views in just the first couple of weeks.
“We’ve provided lots of information about the consultation and the options being considered in the online survey and on our dedicated waste and recycling consultation website pages, but we also recognise that some people would welcome the opportunity to ask questions in person, or would find it easier to fill out a paper copy of the survey.
“Paper copies of the survey are already available in our main council building receptions and our libraries and our teams are heading out to towns across Westmorland and Furness this month to give people the chance to chat with the team and ask questions about the options being proposed and our work to reduce waste, increase recycling, and provide improved services for our residents.
“We want to create a new single waste and recycling service for the whole of Westmorland and Furness, a service that makes it easier and more convenient for people to recycle more and waste less, and that is more reliable, cost-effective and better for the environment.
“We want to hear from as many people as possible before we finalise designs for the new-look services and we are determined to make sure these services work for our communities.’’
The options being consulted on now have been developed following feedback from an initial ‘Community Conversation’ engagement at the end of last year, when nearly 3,000 people shared their thoughts on current waste and recycling collection services in their area – what they like, what they would like to change and what they would like to see in the future.
Thanks to that feedback the council has been trialling different collection methods and containers, including a trial of ‘co-mingled’ recycling in Ulverston and a trial of wheelie bins in parts of the Eden area that currently have bags for general waste collections. Residents in those trial areas have been sharing how they have found the new arrangements and whether it is making it easier for them to recycle more and waste less.
The council has also started to roll-out the kerbside collection of beverage cartons (such as Tetrapak), starting in the Eden area, after feedback that residents wanted to be able to recycle these items more easily.
For more information about the options and to take part in the consultation complete the Options Consultation Survey.
The feedback from the Options Consultation will be considered alongside independent assessment of factors such as how the options fit with national legislation, do they make services fairer, how would they impact the environment, whether they are sustainable and whether they could contribute to more efficient and cost-effective services.
For more information about the criteria being used in the assessment, what the changes would mean for collections in your area, a summary of results from the ‘Community Conversation’ engagement and answers to questions about the options being considered, see the dedicated website page on the Waste and Recycling Options Consultation. A final decision on the new-look services will be made later this year, with the first changes being rolled out by the end of 2025.
Councillor Archibald continued: “We are very grateful to everyone who tells us what they think about the proposed changes by completing the Options Consultation survey. If you haven’t done so already, there’s still plenty of time to share your thoughts before the survey closes in July.
"Your views will be helping to shape the future of waste and recycling services for the whole of Westmorland and Furness.’’
• Paper copies of the survey area available in the receptions of the council’s main public buildings at Barrow Town Hall, Kendal Town Hall and Voreda House, Penrith, as well as council libraries
• The survey runs until 11 July.