Medway Council buys new fleet of bin lorries

Medway Council has purchased 46 new refuse vehicles

A local authority in Kent has bought a fleet of new bin lorries after nearly a quarter broke down on the same day.

Medway Council has purchased 46 new refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) for under £12m, which is £5m less than the £17m they budgeted for in July last year.

The new vehicles are to replace the current fleet which surpassed their standard working life around four years ago.

Councillor Simon Curry, portfolio holder for climate change and strategic regeneration, said it was important to renew the fleet in order to service the 120,000 homes in Medway effectively.

The current fleet was purchased in 2013 and their standard length of working life is between seven and nine years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council has faced an increase in RCVs breaking down or unable to operate, including when 11 of the 46 vehicles were out of action on one day - 26 January.

The new vehicles will be rolled out over six months at the beginning of next year.

Mr Curry said: “This is another example where we should have had a fleet which was fit for the future, and what we’ve been left with is a waste fleet which needs completely replacing.

“It’s a headache – an expensive headache – but it’s something we have to do.

“We agreed £17 million last year and the team have managed to put together a package that’s only going to cost us just under £12 million – that’s a real testament to how hard they’ve worked.”

The procurement will cost £11.9 million and was agreed unanimously by cabinet along with a renewal of the Medway Norse contracts for recycling processing centres.