Council ‘clarity’ on animal poo policy for garden waste after Barton bin bewilderment

Residents in the North Northants Council (NNC) area have been told they can dispose of hutch bedding after rules were clarified by waste collection chiefs.

Following the imminent introduction of the new £40-per-green-bin charge some animal keepers scoured the council’s website for bin policies.

The Wildman family from Barton Seagrave were surprised to see restrictions on bedding for small pets, leading to them contacting the Northants Telegraph after they couldn’t get a reply from the waste service department.

Now NNC has provided ‘clarity’ on their policy with a new inclusion in the items allowed for disposal list updated on January 25, 2023.

A spokesman for NNC said: “The council’s policy on including hutch bedding in garden waste bins has not changed and has been in place since the council formed in April 2021, when it was approved by the Executive. Policies from previous authorities were superseded at this point.

“The council has a flexible approach to the inclusion of hutch bedding in garden waste bins. For the majority of people, who may have one pet, we allow the inclusion of hutch bedding in the green bins as this contains mostly straw.

“After the story in the Northants Telegraph, we updated our website to provide clarity.

“However, households which have more complex waste requirements due to activities such as the specifics of the case highlighted by the Northants Telegraph should contact [email protected] to request assistance from the waste team. The team will assist by conducting a waste audit to identify the most appropriate solution on a case by case basis.”

Barton Seagrave resident Stuart Wildman who had highlighted the issue says the new clarity is far from clear. He had tried to contact the council over the volume of ‘green’ waste from his pets and his garden.

He said: “It’s all very well but it sounds a bit cuckoo to me. When they updated their website it wasn’t clear that it was for one pet. It’s a bit of a grey area.

"I had a call from a waste manager from Thrapston who said if you had only called me we could have helped. I did try to call them and I went down to the offices. They are now sending me a letter in the post. They couldn’t email it so we are waiting.

"They are correct in saying they are flexible and we are reasonably happy there will be some dialogue.”

Guidance on the website now says that acceptable green waste includes grass, leaves, flowers, plants and weeds; hedge trimmings, twigs, prunings and small tree cuttings; hutch bedding; fallen fruit (but not food waste in general) and twigs and woody material (less than 30cm or 12 inches in thickness).

Not accepted are cardboard; compostable liners, plastic bags or other liners; kitchen waste; side waste or extra bags of waste; soil or turf; vacuum cleaner contents or wood (e.g. twigs and branches thicker than 30cm or 12 inches, DIY wood, furniture, etc).