Please find below an update about the problems we have been having with waste and recycling collections in the District.

Update to towns & parishes: Waste Collections in Wealden

Cllr Roy Galley, Portfolio Holder for Waste and Economic Development at Wealden District Council, met with Kier’s Managing Director, David Mawson on Wednesday 18 July to discuss the current disruptions to waste collections.

Cllr Galley outlined the unacceptable level of service experienced over recent weeks and asked what measures Kier will put in place to resolve the present situation. David Mawson acknowledged the recent difficulties and apologised for the disruption and inconvenience caused to local residents. He assured Cllr Galley that Kier remain committed to both improving and then maintaining the standard of service through to the end of the current contract in June 2019.

In discussion with Wealden officers, Kier have developed a revised recovery plan that should see collections return to regular schedules over the next week. The measures include: additional support vehicles and crews to remain in place until collections are back on track; re-opening of a workshop at the Amberstone depot to support and maintain vehicle reliability; provision of a pool of agency staff to improve resilience. The recovery plan will be kept under review and a further meeting to consider progress will be held in August.

The measures put in place by Kier should have the necessary effect and ensure that collections will return to normal schedule and the backlog caught up over the next week. Wealden District Council will continue to monitor this closely and hold Kier to account.