Household bins in Fleet ‘going private’

Household bins in Fleet will be ‘going private’ from this

October, Hart District Council has confirmed.

The council officially announced today that Veolia

Environmental Services (VES) would take over the job of refuse collection

across the town.

The new contract with VES will last four seven years and the

council says there will be no change at present to the currently fortnightly

collections.

“We see this as a win-win situation for the people of Fleet

and the employees of the service,” said Cllr Stephen Parker, Hart’s cabinet

member for the environment.

“This is an opportunity to save money and preserve the

quality of the service and jobs of the collection crews.

“We need to be as efficient as we can with the funds

available to us.”

The council says it hopes to save some £400,000 a year by

the move, but admits if it chooses in the future to move the service back

in-house it would have to find the cost of a new fleet of vehicles.

The contract with VES has seen Hart District Council and

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council work together to secure it.

“Our staff have done a stunning job over the years but

financial pressures have led us to explore different options,” said Cllr

Parker.