South Hams waste: Council plans to take back bin collections

Contractor FCC Environment had to deal with some of its trucks being too big for country lanes in south Devon

A Devon council plans to take waste services back in-house after two years of missed household collections and suspended services by its contractor, and complaints from local residents.

South Hams District Council said was ending its contract with FCC Environment by "mutual agreement".

The council said its executive was recommending the full council approved the proposals on Thursday.

If approved, the authority would take over from Monday 3 October, it said.

'Challenging circumstances'

Waste and cleaning services were outsourced to FCC in April 2019.

But they have faced constant problems, including vehicles being too large for the area's country lanes, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Other issues included missed collections and the cancelling of garden waste collections, with FCC saying it had difficulties recruiting staff.

The council said its executive had made the decision after getting advice from its Waste Working Group "advising that the authority and FCC Environment have reached mutual agreement to end their contract for waste, recycling, street and toilet cleaning services".

It said both it and FCC Environment "agree that the past few years have presented a number of extremely challenging circumstances".

"In the best interests of the residents of the South Hams, it is proposed that the services will be operated by the council from Monday 3 October 2022," it said.

It added that both organisations would "work closely together to ensure a smooth transfer of the services".