New footbridge at Kingston Deverill ford
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Nearly finished!
Waste collection days to change from 28 February
The household waste collection days for nearly all Wiltshire properties will change from Monday 28 February, as Wiltshire Council seeks to make the rounds more efficient.
This change will only affect the general household waste collections – there is no change to recycling or garden waste collections, which will still take place on their usual day for all residents.
To help residents with the change, every household will receive a personalised information letter that explains how their collection day will change and what they need to do. They’ll also have a hanger label placed on their general household waste bin on their last collection under the old schedule that will give them more information. Letters will start landing on doormats from 31 January and during the following two weeks, while people will start to see the hangers on their household waste bins from 14 February.
Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Waste, said: Changing the waste collection day for nearly every household in Wiltshire will enable us to make our rounds more efficient, help reduce our carbon emissions and save more than £1.5m over the next five years.
While we’re making these savings, our waste contractors, Hills, will maintain the current number of collections staff, as there are a number of vacant positions that will now not be filled.
This change only affects what we call residual waste, which is essentially the general household rubbish bins, and not the recycling or garden waste collections – these collection days will stay the same across the county.
From 31 January and for the following two weeks, all households will receive a letter that explains the changes and details their new collection day, so people don’t need to do anything until they receive their letter.
We look forward to these new rounds helping to reduce our carbon emissions and deliver value for our residents.
To find out more about waste collections, people should go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/waste
COVID-19: back to Plan A
Latest news and advice
To book a COVID-19 vaccination, including a booster:
Go online: nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination
or call: NHS 119
COVID-19: Recent and upcoming changes
Information and advice on COVID-19 for Wiltshire
Useful information
From the Government
- All the Government’s guidance on coronavirus is at: gov.uk/coronavirus.
From the NHS
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- The latest stay-at-home advice: nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice
- What is COVID-19?: nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19
- Common questions and answers on COVID-19 including advice for families, prevention, how it’s caught and spread, self-isolation, testing and treatment: nhs.uk/common-health-questions/
- NHS 111 (only telephone 111 if you cannot get help online): 111.nhs.uk/covid-19
From Wiltshire Council
- Wiltshire Council’s COVID-19 information page: wiltshire.gov.uk/public-health-coronavirus
From Mere surgery
- Advice from Mere Surgery website: meresurgery.co.uk
From the Police
- Wiltshire Police Coronavirus advice: wiltshire.police.uk/article/5909/Coronavirus
The Parish Council has also set up a community self-help arrangement to help see us all through the crisis.
The purpose of this initiative is to help each other – not just the most vulnerable – because we all may need some sort of help, even if we are lucky enough not to fall ill. The closure of many shops and the disruption to other shopping and services can present people with all sorts of new difficulties. This is already a notably friendly and neighbourly place to live and between us we have an amazing collection of skills, talents and contacts. There is lot that we can do help each other not just survive but thrive at this strange time.
The kind of help we are thinking about ranges from making a phone call to a neighbour to dispel the isolation blues, to shopping and collecting prescriptions on behalf of those who find themselves needing to be isolated at home.
At the village level the coordinators are:
Kingston – Ted Flint: , 844507
Brixton – Chris Buchan Jones: , 841768
Monkton – Tass Richardson: , 844031
If you are worried, or need any help, please do contact one of these coordinators.
Please keep looking out for each other!
Avian influenza / Bird flu
Housing measures to protect poultry and captive birds from avian influenza came into force across the UK on 29th November. This means that it will now be a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK to keep their birds indoors, or where this is not practical, to take steps to separate them from wild birds.
Keeping your birds undercover away from wild birds is vital to minimise the risk of them becoming infected with avian influenza by wild birds. But housing alone is not the only solution – it remains essential that you follow strict biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of disease spreading to your birds. Read more at gov.uk/…/bird-flu-latest-situation…