05/01/11……..Council apologises for bin collecting disruption

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has issued a statement about the disruptions to its kerb-side waste collections in December.

Steve Bishop, Strategic Director for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils, said: ?Waste collections were cancelled on Monday 20 December and Tuesday 21 December because of the treacherous conditions on many roads, where compacted snow was unsafe for our contractors? 26 tonne collection vehicles and the icy conditions on pavements were dangerous for collection crews.

“Collections went ahead as planned for the rest of that week on roads assessed as being safe although further cancellations arose in some of the residential roads which remained treacherous until the thaw. As a special measure wherever possible, on safe main routes, on Thursday and Friday that week crews collected waste from houses that had been missed earlier that week.

?We did not attempt to catch up collections from those who had had a missed collection in order to safeguard collections for the majority of residents unaffected by the snow and ice disruptions. Crews worked to the previously agreed and publicised Christmas timetable. This schedule involves crews working the next three Saturdays to catch up with collections missed because of the Christmas bank holidays.

“Collections in both districts will return to normal on Monday 24 January.

?Had we attempted to catch up those two days of missed collections, it would have meant disrupting the Christmas schedule for all 100,000 households across South Oxfordshire and the Vale rather than just the minority of households whose collections were cancelled due to snow/ice.

?We do apologise to any residents who we were unable to collect from for the inconvenience this has caused. Anyone who did have a missed collection can put out a reasonable amount of extra side waste with their next collection.?

For further information, and to check the Christmas schedule for both South Oxfordshire and the Vale, please visit www.morecycling.co.uk or call 03000 610610.