Over 1,000 new homes in North Tyneside will be able to take advantage of the council’s free garden waste service after the scheme was extended.
Following a call made by the Elected Mayor, Norma Redfearn CBE, in response to requests from residents, officers at North Tyneside Council explored opportunities to extend the successful service to those living in new build estates.
Mayor Redfearn asked officers to explore whether this can be achieved within existing budgets and if it’s possible - start the implementation process, including eligibility criteria.
And now, following consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members and Deputy Mayor, 1,200 homes have received brand new brown bins to be used as part of the service.
Cllr Carl Johnson, cabinet member with responsibility for Environment, said: “We know how valuable our free garden waste service is to our residents, so for us to be able to expand it to over a thousand new homes in our borough is amazing.
“Where other councils have started charging for garden waste collections, we have managed to keep our service free because we understand how important it is to the residents we serve.
“We are always looking for ways to become a more sustainable borough and this scheme supports this with its many benefits to the environment. This extension will help to divert more waste from landfill and improve our composting rates.”
The scheme includes a free garden waste bin and 18 fortnightly collections per year, running from March until the end of November.
Bins have been distributed to all the new houses involved in the scheme’s extension and calendars with collection dates and additional information are being sent out.
For more information, or to check your collection dates online, click here or call 0345 2000 103.
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