This is the reply I’ve received from Thurrock Council. What happens next - Our next steps???

Hit me with suggestions please. 

Dear Mr Findlay,

Following on from your petition which was presented at the July Full Council meeting. I wanted to provide a written response to you.

As I said on the evening, I appreciate this is an issue residents feel strongly about because I feel passionately about it too.

You are aware of the financial situation the council is in. In January of this year, to meet the councils’ financial objectives for 2024 and beyond, a series of savings proposals were put forward to the Conservative Cabinet for consideration, which included, a review of the waste collection services and the provision of garden waste collections. They made the decision to introduce this scheme.

I will reiterate what I said to you in the evening of the full council meeting that I wish I could go back and undo the disastrous financial decisions made by the previous conservative administration. I cannot go back in time and undo what they chose to do.

And sadly, even if I wanted to undo this decision personally, we are still a council in enormous financial instability and we continue to work with government appointed commissioners to deal with the devastating effects of this debt. Therefore, I cannot undo this decision made by the conservative administration. 

At the moment most other Councils in England charge for this service and only 3 local authorities out of 13 in Essex and the neighbouring authorities, still currently offer a free garden waste collection service and nationally, only around 27% still collect garden waste for free.

We know residents value the garden waste service, so we want to keep on providing it, but we think it’s fairer to offer a paid for service for those who want it.  Alternatively, residents can choose to home compost or, still take their garden waste to the Household Waste Recycling Centre for free.

As I said previously, this is not the answer you will want to hear. But as an administration we cannot go backwards. I will work the team to ensure that the waste service that is accessible to all our residents and to a standard they deserve.   

With best wishes

Councillor Victoria Holloway

Jenny Shade l Principal Democratic Services Officer I Resources and Place Delivery

Thurrock Council, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, RM17 6SL