Latest news with #North Somerset
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Council apologises for wave of missed bin collections
A councillor has apologised to residents whose bin collections have been missed due to "driver shortages". Many households in North Somerset – including those in Weston-super-Mare, Nailsea, Portishead and surrounding areas – have experienced missed collections for recycling and garden waste this summer. The BBC understands some residents have waited up to three weeks for collections. Recycling is normally collected weekly while garden waste, a paid service, is collected fortnightly. North Somerset Council's Mark Canniford told BBC Radio Bristol: "We've got to apologise. No one is happy with this scenario, my bins were late this week. Everyone's suffering with the same problem." More news stories for Somerset Listen to the latest news for Somerset Mr Canniford said it was not an exclusively "North Somerset problem". The UK is currently 20,000 to 40,000 bin lorry drivers short, he said. He said part of the problem was the high demand for time off during summer. "It's hot, people want to be on their holidays," he said. "These were pre-booked a long time ago, then we find we got a shortage. It makes it really difficult." North Somerset Council is appealing for locals to help drive its bin lorries and said anyone with a HGV licence should contact them. Mr Canniford said: "You can expect things to go back to normal. "I'm not saying we won't have these problems again in the future, simply because of the HGV issues, but we're trying to find ways and work around that." Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. More on this story Council moves bin collections to every three weeks Residents encouraged to download recycling app Related internet links North Somerset Council
BBC News
11 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
North Somerset Council 'sorry' for wave of missed bin collections
A councillor has apologised to residents whose bin collections have been missed due to "driver shortages".Many households in North Somerset – including those in Weston-super-Mare, Nailsea, Portishead and surrounding areas – have experienced missed collections for recycling and garden waste this BBC understands some residents have waited up to three weeks for collections. Recycling is normally collected weekly while garden waste, a paid service, is collected Somerset Council's Mark Canniford told BBC Radio Bristol: "We've got to apologise. No one is happy with this scenario, my bins were late this week. Everyone's suffering with the same problem." Mr Canniford said it was not an exclusively "North Somerset problem". The UK is currently 20,000 to 40,000 bin lorry drivers short, he said part of the problem was the high demand for time off during summer."It's hot, people want to be on their holidays," he said. "These were pre-booked a long time ago, then we find we got a shortage. It makes it really difficult."North Somerset Council is appealing for locals to help drive its bin lorries and said anyone with a HGV licence should contact Canniford said: "You can expect things to go back to normal. "I'm not saying we won't have these problems again in the future, simply because of the HGV issues, but we're trying to find ways and work around that."
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Damaged car park in Weston-super-Mare losing council £269k
A council is losing a quarter of a million pounds a year on a car park in Weston-super-Mare because the upper floors have been closed since late 2023 due to a multitude of Somerset Council is paying £500,000 a year to rent Carlton Street Car Park, which is meant to have 350 spaces, in a lease that runs until the council made a loss of £269,000 last financial year because all but the ground floor has been closed due to structural issues, three broken lifts and toxic substances that can damage cars. Council officer Stephen Matthews told councillors: "We are tied into the lease for another 33 years - we have no choice but to keep paying the lease." North Somerset Council, which owns the freehold of the land the car park is built on, entered into a 45 year leaseback arrangement in 2012, with an initial annual rent of £433, of last year, the rent the council is now paying is "in excess of £500,000 a year", reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service, despite the upper floors closing in November car park has "structural cracking and movement" and all three of the lifts are not working, with one deemed beyond repair due to rainwater damage. Water has also been leaking in and mixing with building materials and car emissions to create a solution similar to acid rain which can damage cars. Councillors have said they were "horrified" to discover the situation, set out in a report to the council's corporate, assets, transport and environmental services scrutiny committee on 3 July. Chair of the committee, Steve Bridger, said: "I have been a councillor for six years and it has been one of the grimiest, most depressing, damaging reports I have read."A condition of the lease requires the council to keep the building in good order to keep 350 spaces available but it is not being enforced by the Matthews warned councillors: "If push came to shove, they could make us do each bit of repair required under the lease."The council is preparing options on what to do next, with a feasibility study on the costs of the potential options expected by October.
