Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

The below, is a national issue and does not necessarily reflect on Fenland or Cambridgeshire.

Broken fridge overload prompts LGA warning.

A message of caution has been issued over the accumulation of broken fridges at recycling centres amid a lack of council storage.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has said that many will be prevented from recycling fridges and freezers over the bank holiday weekend due to ‘ongoing national processing issues’.
It warned that appliances continue to ‘pile up at recycling centres’, as councils are being forced to use expensive temporary storage in the meantime.
The LGA highlighted the ‘significant backlog’ that has been compounded by recent heatwaves, as fridges and freezers are more prone to breaking in hotter temperatures.

Councils have asked residents to postpone their disposal of items, as well as confirming that they could have to restrict or refuse appliances due to sites being at their limits. Producer compliance schemes have also delayed or ended collections from council sites in some cases.

Read Complete Article – LGA Website

Fantastic Social Media & WhatApp groups for neighbours and friends…
NHW is still very much alive and relevant.

If you’ve not received your food waste caddies, please email foodwaste@fenland.gov.uk or call 01354 654321 to arrange delivery before collections begin.

Please note, town centre flats and communal properties will receive food waste caddies in the next phase of the service rollout in the winter and should continue using their existing bins as before. Exact dates will be communicated nearer the time.

You can find more information on the service, including FAQs, what goes in the caddy, and how food waste is recycled, at: fenland.gov.uk/foodwaste

Planned works tomorrow – 02nd September.

At a meeting I attended recently a question came up….

Why Whittlesey (Fenland) are not promoting or installing multi-purpose recycling bins, i.e., general waste, cans, bottles, and plastics, in order that these items are separated before going off to be processed.

I said as I always do…..try and find out the answer !!!!!!

Head of Environmental Services @ Fenland District Council Mark Mathews.

Good to hear from you. Yes, the Council has reviewed this decision on a regular basis since 2015 when it became a legal duty to do so.
There is a process involved in the decision methodology, which is complex, please see the linked reports below for the details.

The bottom line is the Council had to perform an evaluation called a TEEP assessment, which is a formal evaluation used to decide if collecting recyclable materials separately is Technically, Environmentally, and Economically Practicable (TEEP).

The original determination was made by Cabinet in 2015 and can be found here FENLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL. The TEEP assessment is then reviewed each time changes are made to the collection system.
The most recent occasion was when Council agreed to change the waste collection system to include food waste collections in February 2025 Report and appendices.pdf.
The element of the report that refers to this is the TEEP assessment at Appendix 2
(and 3).
You are correct, one of the reasons is the cost, but the assessment process is more involved that just looking at the costs. The fact that the current system already works well is an important element within the considerations along with the overall environmental impact.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Regards….Mark

RG Note : We do indeed have a few of these multi-waste bins around but as said above one factor is cost of the units and the extra time and  resource in emptying them – hopefully one day….

This one below (indicative) is around £700:00 (each)

Hi Roy, et al,

Thank you for your email, which I have just picked up.

Please be advised that an emergency order was raised with CCC’s Contractor to address the issues identified.
However, this clearly has not come to fruition, despite Steve and I having been actively chasing this.
I will pursue this separately and outside of this correspondence, as it is clear that the current processes are not working as they should.
With regard to Bower Footbridge and its current condition, I will be closing the footbridge today in the best interests of public safety.

I have just reached out to a number of team members and partners to arrange this. Given the timing of the request, I will provide a further update later today once arrangements have been confirmed.

As you are aware, the structure is planned to be replaced and the new bridge has already been manufactured. The replacement works were due to commence in approximately four weeks. Unfortunately, however, the Middle Level Commissioners have delayed our navigational closure and subsequent access until Monday 2^nd November.

For full transparency, I have attached the relevant MLC correspondence and have copied Martin Redding (Senior PM) into this email. You may also have seen the issues raised by the MLC on the local BBC news.

I am continuing to discuss the revised programme with the Contractor.
At this stage, it is likely that the works will now continue into the New Year. I will provide a further update once the revised programme has been fully formalised.

Best regards,
Adam Cobb IEng MICE MCIHT
Structures & VRS Engineer.
Highways Maintenance and Management
Place & Sustainability
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box No ALC2615, New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, PE28 4YE

No one is quite sure for certain, but more damage has taken place at The Bower Footbridge (again).

I have reported it as a concerned resident god-daughter nearly had an accident…..

September 07th is supposed to be first collections….

A total of 90,000 caddies have been delivered to 45,000 homes, in six weeks of district-wide deliveries.

Flats and communal properties will receive food caddies in the next phase of the roll-out and should continue using their existing bins as before.

All other homes should now have their caddies. Any homes, barring flats or communal properties, that don’t have their caddies are encouraged to contact us by email foodwaste@fenland.gov.uk or call 01354 654321.

Weekly collections from homes that have food caddies will begin on the same day as blue and green bin collections, from the week beginning Monday, September 7. General recycling and waste should continue to be put in blue and green bins as before.

Town centre flats and communal properties are due to get their caddies this winter.
We’ll confirm dates nearer the time.

A new month means new opportunities for you to talk to your local neighbourhood officers about your concerns.
This month’s meetings are very important as your feedback will help the teams to determine their priorities for the upcoming quarter.

If you have something you wish to discuss with your local officers, or if you just want to hear about the work we are doing, then come along to one of the following community meetings:

• Peel House in Queen Street, Whittlesey, from 10am until 11am, on Wednesday, 2 September
• March Library, from 10am until 11am, on Saturday, 12 September
• Whittlesey Library, from 11am until 12pm, on Monday, 14 September
• March Library, from 11am until 12pm, on Monday, 28 September
• Peel House in Queen Street, Whittlesey, from 11am until 12pm, on Tuesday, 29 September
• Chatteris Library, from 2pm until 3pm, on Tuesday, 29 September

You can find out more about your local neighbourhood team over on our website.

Read Complete Article – CambsNews @ JE