Residents angry at loss of garden waste service, says councillor

Residents in a residential part of Gloucester have had their popular garden waste service stopped by the city council.

Council contractors will no longer collect recyclable garden waste Ebor Road and a large part of Armscroft Road from the Armscroft area of the city.

The move has been criticised by one of the Liberal Democrat councillors who represents the area as the fortnightly service, which residents pay an annual fee, is popular.

The problem has arisen because of the narrow streets and household waste is collected by a smaller truck in animal proof sacks instead of wheelie bins.

Elmbridge Ward Councillor Howard Hyman said residents were angry the service had been taken away with no alternative offered.

He has now written to local residents and launched a petition to get the service reinstated.

"The streets are narrow, so the waste lorries find it difficult to get access," Councillor Hyman said.

"Emptying the bins is a statutory service, so the city council had no choice but to find an alternative.

"But with the garden waste service, the Conservative-run city council cannot be bothered to find an alternative. Instead they have just axed the service when they cannot manage it properly.

"It means residents with gardens will either have to take their garden waste to the recycling centre at Hempsted, which is fine if you have a car, or put it out with the general waste.

"The city council should be making it easier to recycle, not harder."

Councillor Hyman added: "People should be careful about complaining when there are issues with garden waste collections in case the city council just takes away the service."