Barnet apologises to residents affected by bungled bins collection changes

Barnet Council has apologised to residents after bungled changes to bin collections saw households going nearly two weeks without having them emptied

Last week was the first week of the new regime save the borough £700,000. However despite the council saying the majority of their 350,000 collections were completed last week, residents in East Finchley were left with their bins overflowing as they weren’t collected.

Residents also complained about not being told about the changes, despite the council saying it had sent a calendar and postcard to all homes.

Cllr Alan Schneiderman said: “I hope the current problem with missed collections can be sorted out and a quick review of the changes carried out.”

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “The majority of the collections were completed last week – despite some initial teething problems that would be expected with such a large operational exercise.

“We are working hard to ensure that these changes go as smoothly as possible for our residents. We are grateful for their patience and understanding, as these substantial changes are implemented. It might take a little while to bed-in; this is the biggest change to our bin collection rounds in the last 15 years.

“The majority of outstanding collections have now been completed. We are doing our utmost to ensure any remaining collections are made ASAP. We apologise to those residents who have experienced any inconvenience.”