There hasn’t been much publicity given over to this but one of the savings being considered by the Conservative administration at New Forest District Council is scrapping the Commercial waste collection service.

I understand there are about 950 customers across the New Forest district that will be affected, some of them based in Totton.

A consultation is underway, seeking views about this (and other savings proposals) but has been somewhat pre-empted by the fact that they declined to take on any new customers for sometime now.

I would be interested in hearing from any Totton based businesses that currently use the service and what you plan to do when, or if, the service is no longer available to you. What do you think the cost difference will be if you use an alternative commercial collection company ?

Sadly, we all know that the risk of fly tipping increases whenever disposal of waste is made more difficult or expensive via legitimate means.

The aim is to try and save about £1.25 million in the next financial year to balance the books. It’s a drop in the Ocean compared to the £192 million the County Council seeks to save but each authority has to balance the books each year, by law.

Here is a link to the wider consultation : https://newforest.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/budget-consultation-for-2027-28?utm_source=chatgpt.com