Garden Waste Service Terms and Conditions 2023/24

Terms & Conditions – Wealden District Council Garden Waste Service

1. There is an annual charge for the service. The scheme will run from 1 August to 31 July. Subscriptions starting part way through the service period will be charged on a pro-rata basis at 1/12th of the annual cost for each full remaining month. New customers that subscribe during the renewal period (usually May-July) will pay for any remaining whole months of the current subscription year in addition to the fee for the forthcoming year.
2. Payment must be made by debit or credit card prior to service commencement. The charge will be reviewed annually. Details of the current charge are available at wealden.gov.uk/recycling. If you do not have a bank account or credit card, contact us for alternative options.
3. Customers can subscribe by logging in to their account at wealden.gov.uk. Customers without internet access should call 01323 443322 for assistance.
4. Customers subscribing to the service will be issued a licence sticker which must be displayed on the bin. If not displayed, the bin will not be emptied and no refund will be provided. If the sticker becomes damaged so that it cannot be read, detached or is lost, please notify us through wealden.gov.uk.
5. Customers will need to renew the subscription each year. If renewals are not made before 17 July for the following period, the service will terminate and the bin must be made available, empty, for removal. Customers who cancel, or allow their subscription to lapse, but then re-subscribe within 12 months may be required to pay a re-delivery charge.
6. Joining the service does not entitle customers to a set number of collections or volume of waste. We aim to collect garden waste fortnightly all year round with the exception of a two week break over the Christmas and New Year period. However, we reserve the right to suspend collections in exceptional circumstances, for example, adverse weather conditions.
7. The Council will provide customers with a brown coloured wheeled bin for the purposes of the service. The bin must only be used for garden waste.
8. Customers may select from two sizes of bin: 140 litre (small) or 240 litre (large). Once the bin has been delivered to the customer it cannot be exchanged for the alternative size during the subscription period. The fee for the service will be the same regardless of the size of bin used.
9. Customers may request up to four bins, if required. Where additional bins are provided the appropriate fee for the service will apply to each bin.
10. All subscriptions and bins are related to the original property they were requested for, for the duration of the service period which has been paid for. No bins or subscriptions may be transferred to an alternative property either within or outside of the Wealden District area and no refund is available if a customer moves out during the service period. For customers moving to another property within Wealden where there is not a valid garden waste collection service already in place, they are required to subscribe at their new address and pay for the service at the pro-rata rate before collections commence. Customers moving out of the area should notify us via wealden.gov.uk or by calling 01323 443322. They must not take the bin and the remainder of the annual fee is not refundable.
11. The bin remains the property of the Council at all times and must not be removed from the property by anyone other than the Council or its appointed agent.
12. If you wish to cancel the service, please tell us immediately. No refunds will be given and the service cannot be transferred to anyone else at a different property.
13. The Council may withdraw the service from a customer at any time by informing them in writing at least 14 days before the service will cease. Customers will be entitled to a refund of the balance of the subscription fee already paid on a pro rata basis at 1/12^th of the fee per full or part calendar month remaining of the service period.

Collections

14. Only acceptable garden waste material, as detailed in Appendix 2 and on the Council’s website wealden.gov.uk/recycling, will be collected. All material must be contained within the closed bin. The Council will not usually collect any garden waste left at the side, or on top, of the bin.
15. If there are any incorrect materials in the bin, it will not be collected and the customer will need to remove all unacceptable waste. The bin will then be emptied at the next scheduled collection. See Appendix 2 for examples of incorrect materials.
16. Bins that are overflowing or are too heavy for the waste operatives to handle safely will not be collected.
17. If the contents of a bin are compacted or frozen so that it cannot be emptied in full, or part, a return collection will not be made and the bin will be emptied on the next scheduled collection.
18. Bins must be placed out for collection at the edge of the property at the point nearest to the highway, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the Council. All bins must be out by 7am on the scheduled day of collection. Time of collection can vary. Please ensure the bin is returned to your property as soon as possible after emptying.
19. To find out your collection day visit wealden.gov.uk. The Council reserve the right to change the collection day but will notify residents in advance.
20. If a bin is not placed out by 7am on the day of collection, the Council will not return to empty the bin until the next scheduled collection.
21. Where a bin is placed out correctly but not collected, the customer must report it to the Council by 5pm the following working day, either via wealden.gov.uk or by calling the Contact Centre on 01323 443322 during opening hours, in order for a return collection to be made.
22. The bin is for residential domestic use only. If it is found to be used for commercial purposes the Council reserves the right to withdraw the bin without a refund of the subscription.
23. Where a bin cannot be emptied as a result of an access issue eg roadworks or parked vehicles, a return collection will be attempted either later in the day or on another day. Should access remain unavailable the bin will be collected on the next scheduled collection date.
24. Customers requiring an Assisted Collection will need to apply for this arrangement, unless it has previously been agreed in writing with the Council. Applications for Assisted Collections can be made either via wealden.gov.uk or by calling 01323 443322.

Use of the Bin

25. If the bin is lost, damaged or destroyed by the Council or its contractor, it will be replaced at no cost to the customer.
26. If the bin is lost, damaged or destroyed by the customer or a third party, the customer will be responsible for the cost of repair or replacement by the Council.

General

27. The Council reserves the right to vary any of these terms and conditions at any time by giving the customer one month’s notice in writing.
28. The Council will not be obliged to provide the service if it is prevented from doing so due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control.
29. In accordance with the Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you are entitled to cancel this agreement and receive a full refund of the subscription fee, provided you notify the Council of your intention to terminate in writing within 14 days of subscribing to the service.

Appendix 1 Data Protection Statement and Privacy Notice

Wealden District Council is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and will only use and store your personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.  We collect and use your personal data in order to provide services you have requested from us or to carry out our legal obligations to you.  We will not disclose your personal data to any third parties, unless we need to do so to provide a service to you or we are legally required to do so.  We may share your personal data with other Council departments in order to provide the service you have requested and to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Our Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use and securely hold your data and can be viewed at: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/transparency-spending-and-performance/data-protection/privacy-policy/. If you want more information on how the Garden Waste service uses your personal data, please see the Privacy Notice on our website at: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/UploadedFiles/Privacy_Notice_for_Garden_Waste_and_Refuse_Collections-1.pdf

Appendix 2 What Can Go in the Garden Waste Bin