New Garden Waste Charge Scheme Launched in North Northamptonshire

A new pay-for service in North Northants will begin in April, with residents being asked to subscribe to it now (Image: Reach PLC)

Residents across North Northamptonshire are being asked to sign up to the new paid-for garden waste collections by North Northamptonshire Council. As from April, all those wanting their garden waste collected will have to pay for the service.

From yesterday, Monday, January 16, residents in the former areas of Corby, Wellingborough, East Northants, and Kettering councils can subscribe to the new optional collection service. It is the first time for much of the area that the service will no longer be free.

The annual subscription charge for the fortnightly service is £40 per bin. Collections under the new service begin on Monday, April 3 and anyone without a subscription will no longer have their garden waste collected .

North Northants Council (NNC) announced last November that it was harmonizing kerbside garden waste collections under a single service. Currently, only residents in East Northants pay for collections, at £55 per year.

To acknowledge the "historic disparity", the council has decided that existing subscribers will only have to pay £20 for their first full year of garden waste collections under the new scheme. This discount will be for the first year of the scheme only.

After this the annual cost will align with the rest of the North Northants area at £40 a year. Any new subscribers (those who subscribe from yesterday) will not get a discount and will pay the new charge of £40.

For those residents in the Wellingborough area, whose garden waste is not collected between November and March, the existing scheme will resume on Monday, March 13 and Monday, March 20. You are asked to put your garden waste bin out on the same day as your recycling bin.

However, should you want to continue to have your garden waste collected past April 3, you will need to subscribe to the new service. This new service will run all year round like the rest of the area.

Some residents in East Northants will get a discount on their first year of garden waste collections (Image: Getty Images)

Payment can be made online via debit or credit card. People can sign up any time and, once payment is processed, will receive a new garden waste permit for sticking onto their bin so collection crews know to collect it.

NNC is also providing some alternatives under the new scheme for those not wanting to pay the subscription. A subsidized compost bin scheme means one can buy a home compost bin for £5 plus delivery.

The authority will also be offering an ad hoc sack collection system, at £16.50 for ten compostable sacks. Residents can also take green waste to their nearest household waste recycling centre in the NNC area for free disposal.

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Artist reunited with her rare sculpture after decades apart

A Northampton artist has been reunited with her rare sculpture after decades apart. Wendy Hoare, 79, an internationally acclaimed sculptor, produced large one-off pieces of pottery throughout her career which were sold around the globe.

As a professional member of the Craft Potters Guild, an association where a "recognisable style" is a pre-requisite of membership, she was well known for her particularly beautiful large designs - often purchased for the gardens of stately homes.

Her work was "inspired by the rhythm, power and grace of all natural forms with wide and varied influences". They include the earthenware of ancient Greece and Egypt along with 20th Century sculpture, medieval and Renaissance art.

Wendy had a studio in her garden at Billing Road, Northampton and was a member of The Northampton Guild of Designers and Craftsmen. She has kept just one of the pots she so skilfully created over decades of work.

Despite still being celebrated on the social media platforms Pinterest and Flickr, she is no longer producing work due to limited mobility.

However, fate stepped in when a friend who was visiting the Technique exhibition at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery spotted a large pot with Wendy’s name next to it.

The two then took a special trip to the museum accompanied by the Collection’s Manager and for the first time in decades, the earthenware piece entitled ‘Broken Egg’ and the creator were once again back together.

Wendy Hoare, sculptor and ceramicist, said: “I knew Northampton Museum had purchased a piece of my work for their ceramic collection many years ago but never imagined it might be exhibited again.

"It’s so wonderful to see this piece which is one of the many in the collection I created. Thank you to the curator of the exhibition for choosing my work and for the opportunity to see it again.”

There is still time to see Wendy's piece and visit the exhibition which runs until Sunday, February 12, this year.

Jane Seddon, Collections Manager at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, said: “We are thrilled to have Wendy’s piece, delighted to meet her and we are now in the process of putting a whole biography together about Wendy’s artistic life.

"We knew very little about her other than that she produced work here in the town so this is a fantastic opportunity to learn more of the artist behind the art.

“There is still time to see Wendy’s piece. The Technique exhibition runs for one more month, until February 12. This exhibition is free of charge and for all ages. It explores the processes artists go through to produce their work and the techniques they employ.

"This whole exhibition provides an opportunity to look beyond the artist and subject matter and gain a greater understanding into how artworks are created across a variety of media.

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