News

Somerset Council is asking for patience as the county faces major disruption to its waste collections if strikes go ahead next week.  Industrial action by members of the Unite union is due to start on Wednesday 12 July, striking on Wednesday, Thursday Friday, each week for the four weeks from Wednesday 12 July to Friday 4 August.

The council and its collections contractor Suez UK will redeploy staff to try and limit the damage but expect many missed collections of recycling, refuse and garden waste will be unavoidable.  Talks continue in the ongoing pay dispute between the union and Suez and industrial action could be called off as late as the afternoon of Tuesday 11 July.  But the council is contingency planning on the basis that it goes ahead as planned.

A dedicated web page www.somerset.gov.uk/strike is the best place for the latest updates on strike action and advice on how to manage when your collections are missed.  This includes making the most of space in boxes and bags, and how to cope if having to store food waste for prolonged periods.

Collections of refuse, clinical waste, and waste from communal properties and schools will be prioritised but this is no guarantee they will take place on time. Recycling is more likely to be missed as staff are redeployed, though we will do our best to make sure everyone gets at least one recycling collection during the strike.

Residents are asked to:

• Put waste out on the usual day but expect missed collections.
• Put it out before 7am, even if your collection is usually later.
• If recycling or garden waste is missed, bring it back in until your next collection day. Don’t report it.
• If refuse or clinical is missed, leave it out and report it as missed, online if possible.

From 17 July onwards crews will accept one additional black sack of refuse at the side of the bin.

Extra recycling will also be accepted, if presented as below:

• Plastics and cans in an open bag, like a bag for life, or a cardboard box.
• Glass needs to stay in your recycling box.
• Cardboard folded and placed next to your recycling box, please keep to a minimum.
• Food waste must stay in your food waste bin, but as a last resort can be double-bag and put it in your refuse bin.

There will be extra possible collection days for people whose recycling is missed in the first week of the strike:

• If recycling is missed on Wednesday 12 July, put it out again on Monday 17 July.
• If recycling is missed on Thursday 13 July, put it out again on Tuesday 18 July.
• If recycling is missed on Friday 14 July and Friday 21 July put it out again on Monday 24 July.

All 16 of Somerset’s recycling sites will be open as usual and can take almost all the materials collected at the kerbside, as well as refuse as a last resort. 

Mickey Green, Somerset Council’s Executive Director for Climate and Place, said: “If these strikes go ahead, major disruption and inconvenience is unavoidable.

“We’ll do what we can to manage it, but if the staff aren’t available you simply can’t get the waste off the ground.

“This could be a very difficult period and would ask for the public’s patience. We are far from the only area experiencing this kind of issue, but that won’t make a Somerset strike any less difficult for its residents.”

For the latest information on waste services in Somerset, follow @somersetwaste on Facebook and Twitter and find us on Next Door.

Somerset Council told us in June that Waldrons Lane, Moores Lane, Perry Green Road and Straight Drove were to have surface dressing carried out between 8th and 21st July. It now seems that this work has been delayed, and will take place between 9th and 13th August instead. The work on each road will required a one-day closure, but no timetable of the closure days has been published. The roads will remain open when no work is taking place.

For any further information about these closures please contact Somerset Highways on 0300 123 2224 quoting the appropriate reference: 

• SM10/0523 SD007554 – Waldrons Lane
• SM07/0523 SD007551 – Moores Lane
• SM09/0523 SD007553 – Perry Green Road
• SM25/0523 SD007573 – Straight Drove

Wembdon Parish Council planted a number of trees last year to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee. These trees cost about £260 each. Vandals have snapped two of the trees in half. This criminal damage has been reported to the police who are investigating. The CCTV recordings are being examined. This is totally disrespectful behaviour, both to the Queen but also to the Parish Council’s efforts to combat climate change. Anyone who has any information about this crime is asked to contact the Parish Clerk in the first instance on clerk@wembdon.org or 07859911204. This is a picture of one of the vandalised trees

Fly parking by Hinkley Point C workers continues to be a problem in Wembdon. The contracts of all Hinkley workers stipulate that they must not fly park their vehicles before catching the work buses to the site. If you witness fly parking then you can report this to the Hinkley enforcement team by email or phone. You will need to provide details of the vehicle, including registration number, location and time. Ideally you should take a photo of the vehicle and email this to the Hinkley team. There is no need to report this to the Parish Council as we have no powers to prevent fly parking. The important point is that it should be reported to the Hinkley enforcement team. You can phone the below number, or call Sacha on the enforcement team directly on her mobile number of 07813232358.

Following the resignation of a councillor, a vacancy has arisen in the office of councillor for the Wembdon Ward of the Parish of Wembdon.  The Notice of Vacancy document can be viewed on this link.

To qualify to stand as a councillor a person must be aged 18 years or older and be a citizen of the United Kingdom, any EU Country or any Commonwealth country and also meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Is, and thereafter continues to be, a local government elector in the parish of Wembdon or
• During the whole of the 12 months preceding the date of appointment has occupied as owner or tenant any premises in the parish of Wembdon or
• During the whole of the 12 months preceding the date of appointment has had a principle or only place of work in the parish of Wembdon or
• During the whole of the 12 months preceding the date of appointment has resided either in the parish of Wembdon or within three miles of it.

There are a number of reasons why a person may not stand for this position.  These include if the person:

• Is subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order, or an interim bankruptcy restriction order, or a debt relief restrictions order, or an interim debt restrictions order or
• Has, within five years before the date of appointment, or since being appointed, been convicted of an offence in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man which has imposed a sentence of imprisonment of three months or more (whether suspended or not) without the option of a fine.

Any person who is qualified to stand as a councillor, and is interested in applying for this volunteer position, is asked to email the Parish Clerk at clerk@wembdon.org for further details. The new councillor will be co-opted to the council at uts meeting on 10th July. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 5th July.

Somerset Council has issued some very useful information regarding the waste collection service arrangements in May, along with other helpful information about recycling. To view the briefing notice please click on this link.