Fortnightly bin collections approved by council

Westmorland and Furness Council said it needed to "harmonise" collections across Barrow, Eden and South Lakes

Plans to reduce the frequency of bin collections for some residents have been approved by council chiefs.

Westmorland and Furness Council's cabinet agreed the changes at a meeting on Tuesday, which it said would "harmonise" collections across the area.

People in Barrow and Eden would see their non-recyclable waste collected fortnightly, instead of weekly, in line with South Lakeland.

The cabinet also agreed to align garden waste services. Residents in Barrow currently pay £51 a year for their garden bin collections, while no charge is in place in Eden and South Lakeland.

Collections differ across the areas because waste used to be collected by three different councils, now replaced by Westmorland and Furness.

A decision on whether to introduce a garden waste fee across all areas will be made as part of next year's budget, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

During the meeting, councillor Giles Archibald, cabinet member for environmental services, said that changes to waste services represented a "very important beginning" and though costly, would improve "efficiency and sustainability".

"It's these things that we do [that] are so important to people," he said.

He added the changes were "important on the basis of equity".

• This article was amended on 10 September to clarify that a decision on whether to introduce a garden waste charge had not yet been made.