Council to cut Saturday waste collections in Stamford and Mablethorpe

Lincolnshire County Council is set to permanently scrap its Saturday waste collection service in Stamford and Mablethorpe.

The two towns do not have their own tips, so the waste collection service was run in Stamford’s Cattle Market car park, but it was suspended in March 2020.

And this week the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee at Lincolnshire County Council made the recommendation on Tuesday, October 19, to permanently discontinue the service.

The committee voted eight in favour and three against. A previous attempt to terminate the service was rejected by the committee back in 2016.

The supplementary waste collections will be subject to a decision by Daniel McNally, Executive Councillor for Waste and Trading Standards, between October 21 and 28, 2021.

Student Rose Battey presented a petition at the meeting, which demands that the county council restores the Saturday recycling materials collection from Stamford Cattle Market car park. | Screenshot: LCC meeting

A petition set up by 18-year-old Stamford student Rose Battey, which so far has over 1,600 signatures including from South Kesteven District Council Leader Kelham Cooke, was presented at the meeting.

Watch the full meeting here (from around 12.50).

The petition demands that the county council restores the Saturday recycling materials collection from Stamford Cattle Market car park. Rose said it is a “well-used, accessible, local service – there is no justification for removing it”.

On the petition page, she said: “Stamford, with over 20,000 residents, is the largest town in Lincolnshire without a waste recycling centre, and with proposed housing developments, it is growing. The absence of recycling options encourages littering and fly-tipping.”

She added: “Stamford residents are forced to travel to our nearest waste recycling centre in Bourne; not everyone has access to a suitable car, can afford the petrol costs or can spare the time for the trip.

“Notwithstanding that the journey creates CO2 emissions that are pumped into the atmosphere. How is that ensuring that Lincolnshire meets the government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050?”

The petition has the support of both of Stamford’s county councillors. After the meeting Richard Cleaver, county councillor for Stamford West, told The Lincolnite: “I’m disappointed that the scrutiny committee decided to accept the recommendation to discontinue the Saturday waste collection services in Stamford and Mablethorpe.

“I think it was a wasted opportunity that they did not take up my suggestion to investigate how these once a week collection services could be retained and improved to increase recycling and avoid further waste being sent to landfill.”

Councillor Ray Wootten, chairman of the environment and economy scrutiny committee at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “For me, this recommendation needed to be supported. We must do all we can to recycle and the supplementary services provide no opportunities for recycling.

“In fact, the material collected goes to landfill. I would rather residents visit their local HWRC, where items can be separated and recycled and the general waste can be transported to the Energy from Waste and made into electricity.”