Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) councillors have voted in favour of spending a £7.16m capital budget to purchase a new fleet of waste collection vehicles.
The vehicles will be owned by the council but managed and maintained by Serco as part of an eight-year contract extension, running from October 2027 to September 2035.
Introducing the proposals, Cllr Mark Wilson said a purchase order was needed now to guarantee the fleet is manufactured in time, with the spend to be built into next year’s budget.
Buying the fleet outright was described by a council report as the ‘least costly’ option, with council-owned vehicles maintained by Serco projected to be cheaper than an alternative where Serco supplies them, which would have cost £10.4m.
From the second year, the fleet will run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), cutting carbon emissions by up to 90%.
While the proposal was ultimately passed, there was some opposition. Cllr Wisdom Da Costa objected, telling the council, ‘We are being gaslit and railroaded into making a decision’, according to the Maidenhead Advertiser. Cllr Wilson rejected this claim and said there had been enough opportunity to scrutinise the decision when it came before cabinet in June.
Photo: © Surachet Jo / Shutterstock.com
Leave a Reply