Christmas recycling collection fiasco was '˜miscommunication between Eastbourne council and Kier'

In May of 2017 the Herald printed an article concerning issues with Eastbourne Borough Council and their appointed contractors Kier, regarding garden waste bins not being emptied in many areas of Eastbourne, despite Eastbourne Borough Council having introduced an opt-in pay for service scheme.

I wish to report that a further issue has arisen over the Christmas/New Year period in that many households in the Meads and surrounding area have not had their recycling bins emptied.

This is particularly problematic as there was a long break between the last collection on December 19 and over the Christmas period. The collection scheduled for January 2 did not take place and many bins remain on the pavement of Grange Road where I reside, with their contents overflowing.

Fortunately, no domestic waste collections were missed.

The next recycling collection is scheduled for January 9.

I contacted the council call centre in Grove Road and was advised on three occasions (January 2, 3 and 4) that the contractor Kier would clear the backlog including working on Saturday January 5. However, at the time of writing, the bins remain unemptied.

I am not aware of how widespread the area affected is but an employee of EBC advised me on the phone that it was some 30 roads that had been missed.

Residents in our building are stockpiling recyclable material in bags and boxes inside their homes, which is not ideal.

EBC have advised that the issue has arisen as a result of ‘miscommunication’ between them and Kier.

But it is difficult for me to understand what this could be, given that the collection of January 2 was printed on their calendar and appears on their website.