Questions raised over Lewes district's plan to reduce bin collections

The Lewes Liberal Democrats District Group is raising concerns and demanding genuine public consultation regarding Lewes District Council's proposed move to alternate weekly refuse collections. While acknowledging positive steps towards improving recycling and increasing the take-up of food waste services, the Liberal Democrats question the practicality and fairness of the new proposals, which are set to begin in November 2025.

The Council's plan will see most households switch to fortnightly black sack waste collections, while recycling and food waste collections continue on a fortnightly and weekly basis respectively. However, the Liberal Democrats highlight several critical issues: 

• Concerns over dealing with potential waste accumulation: There is significant worry about how households, particularly larger families  will manage increased waste over a two-week period.
• The impact on residents: The plan acknowledges "potentially negative impacts" for households generating non-infectious personal waste, including carers, disabled people, older people, women, pet owners, and families with young children in nappies. The Liberal Democrats seek clear and accessible solutions for these groups.
• The legitimacy of the "engagement exercise": The Council's public engagement is framed around understanding "barriers or issues arising from moving to AWC" and "mitigations," rather than genuinely asking residents if they support the change itself. The Green/Labour council has indicated this decision has already been made ; Lib Dems seek assurances that the engagement exercise will be meaningful and that residents concerns will be listened to and acted upon
• While the Council states additional bins can be requested for specific needs, the Liberal Democrats are concerned this process may not be sufficiently straightforward for adversely affected residents. All residents – including those who are not able to contact the Council via electronic means – must have a clear, simple point of access to communicate their needs.

 Lewes Liberal Democrats welcome the Council's stated ambitions to improve recycling rates  and want to see positive action to engage the public on food waste. However, these positive steps must not come at the expense of a fair, practical, and truly consultative waste management system.

 Cllr Stephen Gauntlett, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, commented: "At the recent full council meeting, I asked the Leader for clarity on this significant change. I asked her to detail what she expects the outcome of this 'engagement exercise' to be and whether the results will genuinely be shared with the public and taken into account. Crucially, I also called for a bureaucracy-free way for residents adversely affected by these changes to apply for additional bin collections. We need real answers, not just a tick-box exercise."

Newhaven North District Cllr Corina Watts added: "While the Council might see this as a 'standard' approach, it simply won't work the same across my ward in Newhaven North. Many of our homes, particularly older properties and flats, have limited space for storing waste for two weeks. This two-tier system will create real problems for many residents, and there is a question of fairness, and what residents with reduced services will get in return for their council tax."

The cabinet paper on this decision is here: https://democracy.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/documents/s36039/Improving%20recycling.pdf

 The discussion from the council meeting on 21st July is here from 19:15 on the webcast : https://lewes-eastbourne.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/987226