From South Hams District Council

Garden Waste Collections in the South Hams

South Hams District Council has agreed that residents wanting to have garden waste collections should be charged £49 per year from spring 2023, with the current service to end on 31 October.

Against the backdrop of rising costs and continued national driver shortages, the Full Council came to the decision yesterday (22 September) to cease the existing service and launch a paid subscription service next spring.

The Council has been looking at every option to ensure that the core waste and recycling collection service can remain as smooth as possible when it comes back in-house on 3 October.

As well as easing financial pressures, ceasing the garden waste collection service from 31 October will also ease pressure on the core waste and recycling collections, helping to keep those as stable as possible in the early months of the transition. The Council will empty all brown bins on their last collection day in October.

For many years the Council had been able to provide the garden waste service without charging a subscription fee but doing so from spring 2023 will bring them in line with most other districts in Devon, who already charge for garden waste collections. Plymouth City Council recently took the decision to end their garden waste collections early this year to ease their own budget pressures.

What does this mean for residents?

The garden waste collection service as it exists now will cease on 31 October.

In the coming days, residents will be sent a letter with further information, including how to sign up to the new paid subscription service, once it is available.

For those who decide to not sign up for the service, they can take their garden waste to all three recycling centres in the South Hams. Full details, including opening hours, are available online here: www.devon.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/centre

Alternatively, people can find out more on home composting possibilities here: www.recycledevon.org/in-the-garden/how-to-compost