Garden Waste Service - Terms and Conditions

The Garden Waste Collection Service (‘the service’) is provided to a householder (‘you’) by a contractor acting on behalf of Winchester City Council (‘the council,’ ‘us,’ ‘we’ and ‘our’) upon receipt of the required payment and provided you comply with your obligations under this Agreement.

1. The Garden Waste Collection Service (‘the service’) is provided to a householder (‘you’) by a contractor acting on behalf of Winchester City Council (‘the council,’ ‘us,’ ‘we’ and ‘our’) upon receipt of the required payment and provided you comply with your obligations under this Agreement.

2.  The annual subscription period runs from 3 March 2025 to 2 March 2026, and then annually from 1 March until the end of February each year.

3. If you are registering and making payment for the first time the council will deliver you a wheeled bin which shall be for garden waste only and will be the only bin you may use to present your garden waste (multiple purchases of bins are permitted).  Please note - delivery of a bin and commencement of collections may take up to six weeks following registration whereby you agree to take part in the service. The council reserves the right to supply a fully functional but previously used bin. The bin remains the property of Winchester City Council at all times.
4. Your collection day will be determined by us and we reserve the right to amend the collection day giving you reasonable notice of any changes. The day of collection may also change as a result of Bank Holidays and exceptional circumstances such as inclement weather which we decide makes it unsafe or impractical to carry out a collection. We will do our best to inform you of any temporary changes to your collection day or other delays in advance if you have provided us with an email address to use for this purpose. 
5. The amount we charge and the size of bin provided will be clearly explained when you register and make payment.  If we consider that the collection of a wheeled bin from your property would be too difficult for our contractor then we reserve the right to offer you a collection based on reusable sacks with at least the same capacity as your choice of bin as an alternative.  Should you prefer not to accept sacks as an alternative [in these circumstances] we may be unable to offer you a garden collection.
6. The full amount is payable when you register to join the service even if part way through the subscription period as no pro-rata adjustments are available. You must decide whether it is worthwhile joining the scheme on this basis. A new payment is required at the start of each year, which can be achieved by recurring direct debit or a further one-off payment. The cut-off dates for repeated one-off payments will be advertised on the city council website.
7. If you register for the service and subsequently move to another property in the area of Winchester City Council you may amend the address from which collections are to be made and take your bin to your new address.  If you move to a property outside the area of Winchester City Council we will not refund any unused portion of your subscription but collections will continue at the property for the remainder of the subscription, unless the new occupant instructs us not to.
8. We reserve the right to remove a bin from any property at any time where there is no active subscription.
9. All garden waste bins must be presented at the edge of your property for collection by 6.30am on the day of collection. Assisted collections are available to customers who are unable to move their bin to the edge of their property.  Please contact us should you require this assisted service.
10. If you tell us by noon on the working day following your scheduled collection that your bin was not collected on the scheduled collection day and it is our fault then we will collect it the next working day.  We will not collect the bin on a different day if it is your fault for instance because the bin was not presented by 6.30am on the collection day. You will not be entitled to any refund of any part of your payment provided we have collected the bin on the next working day.
11. All material must be placed loose in the bin and should not be compacted in any way. Only garden waste may be placed in the bin. Garden waste means plant material grown on your domestic property for your own benefit.  It does not include any material produced for commercial purposes, soil, stones, kitchen waste or vegetable peelings.
12. Our contractor has the right to inspect the contents of each bin you present and to reject bins which contain any material which the waste disposal authority defines as contaminated.  You will be notified that your bin was contaminated and it will not be collected until the next collection is due and the contamination is removed.  
13. Bins which the contractor consider to be too heavy for safe handling and emptying will not be emptied.  You will be notified of the reason why the bin has not been collected and it will not be collected until the next collection is due and the weight of the bin is reduced. It is your responsibility to sort the contents of the bin and reduce weight not the contractors. 
14. Bins must be presented with the lid completely closed. Bins that are overflowing will not be emptied. Additional green waste placed around/beside the bin will not be collected and if any extra waste is obstructing the bin this may also prevent the bin being emptied.
15. The council permits more than one property to make use of a bin but can only accept payment and enter into an agreement with one property owner. It will also be the registered property owner’s responsibility to resolve any issues relating to a shared bin.
16. The council will replace any bin that is damaged by the direct actions of its contractor or which it considers to be no longer serviceable through normal wear and tear, free of charge.  Any bin which is lost, stolen from your property or damaged by your actions will only be replaced on payment of our replacement charge which will always be reasonable.
17. Winchester City Council accepts no liability for any loss or damage suffered by you in making use of the garden waste collection service except to the extent where we have been negligent in performing our responsibilities.
18. Nothing herein contained is intended to affect, nor will it affect, your statutory rights.
19. To adhere to the GDPR regulations, any information you provide to us will only be used for the purposes that you agree to.
20. As a consumer you have a legal right to cancel a contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 during the “cancellation period”.
21. The cancellation period is 14 days from the date of confirmation of your registration to the service. If you wish to cancel your order please let the council know that you have decided to cancel by contacting our customer service centre. The council will then refund you on the credit or debit card used to pay for the service (minus a small fee if the bin has already been delivered to you, to cover the cost of collecting the bin).
22. Any updates to the terms and conditions will be listed on the Winchester City Council website with version control to show when changes apply, but will not be individually circulated.

November 2022 update  - To change year start and end dates.

Last Updated: Tuesday 3 December 2024