In the news: Crunch Month continues to clean up local estates

The month-long initiative introduced a brand-new mobile waste collection service - known as Crunch Month - visiting the borough's five towns on dates throughout July and August. 

For a five-week period, the Crunch (council waste collection vehicles) is visiting each of the council's main towns to allow residents to get rid of any built-up waste. The service also allows residents to dispose of bulky items for free.

The first two weeks of the Crunch have been a huge success with hundreds of residents turning up each Saturday to dispose of their waste and bulky items.

The initiative is the start of a programme to fundamentally review the council's waste and recycling services.

The mobile waste collection service will visit 25 locations across five dates - one location in each of the borough's five towns per week. The free service will be available at the following locations on Saturday 27 July, from 9am to 12.30pm: 

• Billericay - Little Burstead Car Park, CM12 9SY
• Shotgate - Bruce Grove (Russell Gardens end), SS11 8QH
• Lee Chapel South - The Knares service area rear of 58-92, SS16 5TF
• Vange - Gordon Road layby near Helpeston, SS14 1PR
• Pitsea - Chalvedon - Travers Way - Bottom of road near 109, SS13 3LX

A full list of dates and locations for the Crunch service is available on the council's website - www.basildon.gov.uk/crunchmonth  

Alongside the new Crunch service, the council's waste teams are targeting hotspots around the borough to clear any dumped rubbish, litter pick, and tidy up footpaths.

Since the launch on Saturday 13 July, the Pride Team has cleaned up Vange Hill Drive and Five Links. This week we're tackling the Chalvedon Estate.

Cllr Aidan McGurran, Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure, said: "It's week three of Crunch Month and we are continuing to clean up estates across the borough. It has been fantastic to see residents joining in and taking pride in the place they call home. And many residents deserve praise for helping their neighbours access The Crunch. At last week's Crunch alone, we collected 64.760 tonnes of waste - the equivalent of five buses - and even more than in the first week.

"Our teams are doing a brilliant job sorting through everyone's waste and cleaning up our estates. It's great to see the borough's waste being properly disposed of instead of messing up our neighbourhoods.

"This is all part of the journey to fix the bins and this is just the start. Proposals were approved at last week's Cabinet Meeting to launch a new borough-wide consultation on the frequency of waste collections, to reinstate a waste and recycling system that work for you. Keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks."

For regular updates on Crunch Month and other council services, sign up to receive the free weekly e-newsletter at www.basildon.gov.uk/keepintouch

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Published 25 July 2024