Council WILL launch brown bin subscription service in Northampton despite calls to postpone due to coronavirus

Northampton Borough Council has confirmed it will go ahead with the launch of its brown bin subscription service, despite calls from the public to suspend it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The service will launch on Monday April 6, when residents living in the borough of Northampton will have to start paying for brown bin collections.

The annual fee of £42 caused uproar when it was announced earlier this year and it seems residents were hoping the fee may be postponed due to the country being in lockdown, people having more time to tend to their gardens and possibly less income.

A number of residents took to social media to voice their opinion on the matter.

One Twitter user said: “Suspend the introduction as people will not be able to get to the recycling centre whilst they are enforced to be at home. Give them a break.”

Another added: “Oh come on. Delay this please. People are stuck at home and might need these collections whilst they've got time to get gardens done.”

Another resident tweeted: “As people will be spending more time at home - will @NorthamptonBC be suspending its charge for garden waste collections in extraordinary times?”

Another said: “Wouldn't it be a good idea for the Borough Council to abandon the garden waste charge in these troubled times with people out of pocket and told to spend more time in their gardens.”

Despite concerns from residents the council has said the service will launch as planned.

A spokesman for the council said: “Many people have already signed up for this service so we are not intending to pause work in this area and still plan to go live on April 6.

“Currently our refuse and recycling collections are continuing as planned.”