WINCHESTER householders are having their green waste left uncollected under a new scheme.

The city council has launched a controversial garden waste collection service with residents having to pay £39 for a new brown bin. A meeting heard that people have paid for a service which they are not getting.

At full council, Cllr Stephen Godfrey, Conservative, raised the issue: “The launch of the paid for garden waste collection service has seen instances of householders who have paid for new brown bins that have not been delivered. Despite paying the subscription, these householders did not have their garden waste collected when presented in the old garden waste bags.

"Can the Cabinet Member tell me how long it has been taking for new subscribers to the paid for garden waste collection service to receive their new bin after ordering and when will they start to receive the service that they have paid for?”

Cllr Martin Tod, Cabinet member for service quality and transformation, replied: “The new charge for garden waste service started on February 1 as part of the new eight-year contract with Biffa.

“In preparation, Biffa began delivering the garden waste bins at the start of December well before the new service began. As a result, 7,500 residents had already received their bin before the service started.

“Sales and deliveries have continued at pace, and as of February 22 we had sold approximately 14,050 bins and Biffa had delivered over 11,780 to residents who have signed up to the new scheme.

"To minimise the impact on the environment, and to enable a quicker overall distribution of new bins, we have arranged for Biffa to deliver them in groups by area coordinated with planned pick-up days. For example the waste crews will deliver to Colden Common and Twyford one day, and Sutton Scotney and South Wonston the next, and this approach, combined with agreeing with Biffa to fund extra teams and extended hours for bin delivery, means we are currently delivering just over 1,750 bins per week.

“As highlighted in the agreement when people sign up, there is unavoidably a lag between purchasing and delivering to the customer. As of February 22, there were around 2,250 bins awaiting delivery and, at the current rate, it would take under two weeks for them to reach the customer – and we have put arrangements in place to ensure that in no circumstances it should take more than four weeks for their bin to be delivered. On average it is taking 2-3 weeks for most bins to be delivered.”

Cllr Tod said people who have ordered brown bins but await their arrival can carry one leaving our their green waste bags. If uncollected those people can contact the council and report it as a ‘missed bin’ and they will be picked up.

The new brown bins have been branded a 'stealth tax' but the ruling Lib Dems point out that Winchester is the second last authority in Hampshire to introduce the charges. Most are Conservative-controlled. They also say the charges are amongst the lowest. Fareham is introducing its scheme next year.