CONTENTIOUS plans to introduce wheelie bins in the New Forest have been delayed in a move that will please some residents and dismay others.
The scheme was due to be rolled out next year but civic chiefs say new sorting facilities due to be provided by Hampshire County Council will not be ready in time.
New Forest District Council's new waste strategy was approved in July last year in a bid to meet stricter recycling targets imposed by the government.
Garden waste wheelie bins are due to be introduced next year but the rest of the scheme has been pushed back until 2025.
Under the new scheme, 90 per cent of homes across the district will see their rubbish sacks replaced with plastic caddies.
General waste and recycling collections will be reduced to a fortnightly service, but food waste will be collected weekly.
Cllr Steve Davies, NFDC cabinet member for environment and coastal services, said: "To make all planned changes we are reliant on new sorting facilities in Hampshire, which are currently expected from 2025.
"We're waiting on information from the government to understand funding and timelines which will impact the service.
READ MORE: Wheelie bins to be introduced in the New Forest in 2024
"It's important we get the new service right, so it works for our community for the long run.
"For this reason, we'll be starting with changes to garden waste collections and introducing further changes once we have measures in place to deliver them effectively."
Objectors have claimed that the system could create “wheelie bin blight”, especially in historic town centres such as Lymington.
READ MORE: New Forest residents deliver their verdict on plans to introduce wheelie bins
NFDC carried out a public consultation in 2020. Critics described wheelie bins as an eyesore but more than 1,000 people signed an online petition supporting plans to introduce them in the Forest.
Petition organiser Justin Scholes highlighted the issue of refuse sacks being ripped open by animals scavenging for food, leaving pavements covered in rubbish.
Totton councilor David Harrison, a member of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, said the introduction of wheelie bins had proved to be a "really divisive" issue.
An NFDC spokesperson said a new recycling sorting facility being built by the county council would allow councils to collect glass, metal and plastic mixed together.
They added: "Changes to garden waste collections are not dependent on the new facility and are therefore planned for 2024."
About 8,000 homes will be excluded from the scheme because of refuse storage and collection problems.
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