IT could take five years to ensure ‘full consistency’ of waste services across Westmorland  and Furness.

A report prepared for Furness Locality Board says Westmorland and Furness Council will create a new waste and recycling service to help meet the council's commitment of being net zero by 2037.

The report adds the council recognises the ‘frustrations’ caused by the ‘current differences’ in waste and recycling services across Eden, South Lakeland and Furness, particularly in regard to green waste charging.

In Furness residents pay a charge for garden waste collection while it is free for residents in South Lakeland and Eden.

The report adds: “The current situation across the three areas is complex, with different delivery models, different vehicles and containers used for kerbside recycling collections, charging regimes, different collection frequencies and multiple different contracts.

“Planning and implementing these changes will take time, and it will be a 5-year programme to ensure full consistency across all areas.”

On April 1 2023, Westmorland and Furness Council inherited services from the former district councils.

In a statement in February the former cabinet member for customer waste services, councillor Dyan Jones explained that the former district councils had developed collection solutions to suit the different areas and differing needs.

This meant differences between areas in how often waste and recycling was collected.

The statement from Cllr Jones adds: "In the former Barrow Borough Council area, it had been decided that a separate charge would be applied for collections of green (garden) waste, which councils are not legally required to carry out.

"With a largely urban footprint and a high proportion of properties without gardens, it was decided this was the fairest option, rather than asking all Council Tax payers in the borough to subsidise a free service only used by a proportion of its residents.

"In the South Lakeland and Eden areas, the local decision was that green waste collections be provided as a free additional service, alongside the statutory general waste and recycling collections.

"As a new authority, Westmorland and Furness Council is committed to improving and harmonising many of its services, to ultimately ensure that services are all delivered in the same way, and to the same consistent standard, across the whole of the new authority area.

"But this is a huge undertaking with a service as large as waste and recycling – and it was never going to be something that would happen immediately. It requires robust and careful planning to ensure we’re providing the very best services for our communities, that meet their needs and deliver the best value for money.”