Compensation considered for garden waste delays

Garden waste services in particular have been disrupted in Rotherham

A council is considering offering financial compensation or extending its garden waste collection into the winter months after weeks of disruption.

The service, which is paid for via an annual £40 fee, was suspended in Rotherham until the end of August, amid a staff shortage.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, leader Chris Read said a lack of HGV drivers was contributing to the problem.

He said the council was reviewing how to "make amends" to residents and said recruitment was under way.

Read added: "I am hopeful that in a couple of weeks' time, we'll be in a much better position."

During the meeting, opposition councillors criticised the disruption to the paid-for garden waste service, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Conservative councillor Zachary Collingham said residents were "not getting what they've paid for".

He told the meeting: "Like many elected members, I am running out of ways to apologise for the council's inability to resume a full programme of bin collections, particularly in relation to the garden waste.

"Why is the council still unable at this point to source the staff that we need to make it happen? And what does this repeated reference to 'we're reviewing how we make amends' mean?"

To which Read responded: "We have resumed garden waste collections, albeit not as frequently as we would like.

"We are specifically challenged around HGV drivers.

"That is the real crunch point that has meant we've not been able to resume garden waste collections on the scale that we would want to do."

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