The council has confirmed that Woodthorpe residents will not have a recycling collection during the festive period.

Council comms materials that were issued recently led with the reassuring message that there will be changes to collection days over Christmas and New Year.

The more detailed information suggested that collections that were due on Monday 25th would take place on Saturday 23rd instead. The small print, however, confirms that the Saturday collection will apply only to those households that were due a black bin collection. Households that were due a recycling collection on the 25th will miss out, meaning their next recycling collection will be on Monday 8th January.

The communications issued by the council could and should have been clearer. For example, some residents have interpreted the table above as meaning that they will get an ‘extra’ black bin collection on Saturday 23rd, which isn’t the case.

Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward councillors have queried with council officers why is has been necessary to drop some collections this year, when in previous years the council has been able to keep collections going whilst ensuring that waste staff get to take some well-earned time off. The response received is that waste collections over the Christmas and New Year period on the Saturdays rely on volunteers, and this year the council has been unable to secure enough volunteers to provide a full service for all waste and recycling streams. It’s not clear why the council’s approach this year has meant that volunteers have not come forward in sufficient numbers compared to previous years.

Councillors have also asked what steps are being taken to prepare for the inevitable increased pressure on the recycling banks at Acomb Morrisons and Tesco Askham Bar. With no kerbside recycling collections for four weeks, it is highly likely that these bring sites will see a large increase in usage, and so we would expect the frequency of emptying to be increased.

The response received is that the bring banks at Acomb Morrisons and Tesco Askham Bar are being emptied on 22nd December so they have the maximum capacity to cope with any additional materials presented, and agreement is being sought from Tesco for an additional cardboard skip to be installed at Askham Bar.

Councillors will monitor the situation over the coming weeks and will report any issues for attention, such as recycling waste being flytipped next to overflowing bring banks.