After residents had their say on the postponement of the council’s garden waste collections, the dates the service will be suspended have now been announced.
The emptying of green bins – which are used for leaves, grass, bark, flowers, plants and small branches and weeds – will temporarily stop from December 5 until February 16 next year.
Last year the council postponed its green bin collections for more than four months in an effort to save money during the winter months.
The move sparked anger and concern from residents, and the council was forced to apologise after the Ombudsman was called in and ruled that it should have consulted residents before the change.
So a few weeks ago Cheshire East launched a consultation into this year’s collections, urging residents to have their say on the best time to start the seasonal shut-down.
A council spokesman said: “With regard to this year’s winter suspension, following a public consultation, we have put back the suspension of the service to the December 5, 2014, and reduced the length of the suspension so our service will restart on the February 16, 2015.
“Whichever week the collection falls, there will be no more than 12 weeks between the last collection in 2014, and the first collection in 2015.
“Each resident will receive a bin sticker which gives the dates for the start and finish of the suspension collection of that particular residential area. This information is also available on the website for each postcode.
“It should be noted, however, in the event of extreme weather conditions we may also be unable to undertake the scheduled collection.”
On the Macclesfield Express Facebook page, readers shared their views on the council’s announcement.
Antony Allen said: “It’s the right decision and basic economic sense. If 80 to 90 per cent of green bins are not used in this period then why do the route?”
But David Sanders said: “I reckon they should just keep the regular pattern and not suspend the service at all.”
