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The impending visit of Storm Ciaran means there will be no cess pit collections for most of Thursday, and waste and recycling collections are also cancelled.
As the worst of the weather is due to hit the island overnight on Wednesday into Thursday, Guernsey Waste has confirmed that the rubbish collections at those times have been cancelled with further disruption possible too as there are F7 winds at least predicted for Friday.
Alternative arrangements for those cancelled collections will be announced but in the meantime households are asked not to leave their rubbish out for collection tomorrow night.
Guernsey Waste said there are particular concerns over the blue recycling bags being put out as they may blow away, as well as glass bags and food waste caddies which are also susceptible to high winds. Any recycling which is set out should be adequately weighted down, but any bricks, stones or other heavy items should not be put inside the containers.
Guernsey Waste Operations Manager Sarah Robinson said it's better if households can hold on to their rubbish until the next collection.
“Given the severity of the weather warnings, the collections overnight on Wednesday into Thursday morning are cancelled. We would also ask all households setting out waste or recycling on to other nights this week to first check the forecast and carefully consider holding onto materials where they can. If they cannot, please take extra precautions."
“Nobody wants the inconvenience of having to locate or replace a lost glass bag or food waste bin, and given the very high winds forecast for this week they could present a potential hazard.
“Blue bags in particular can be blown around in windy conditions, and if they do escape they tend to leave an awful mess that someone has to clear up. If you absolutely have to put one out, please make sure to weigh it down sufficiently to ensure it will not be blown around.
“Most people don’t tend to have a lot of glass, so keeping hold of that for another fortnight may not be too much of an issue. For food waste, everyone has a collection next week, so if your caddy is not full, at this time of year it should be possible to keep that for another seven days without any issues.
“In any event, please only set out these items if you have a very secure place where the collection crews can leave them when they have been emptied.”
The island's recycling sites - at Longue Houge and Chouet - will also be closed all day on Thursday. Those sites may also close early on Wednesday if the conditions worsen earlier than forecast.
Pictured: Recycling sites will be closed all day on Thursday due to the forecast storm.
Households with cess-pits are being warned that there will be no collections from 17:00 on Wednesday until at least 14:00 on Thursday because of the weather.
Guernsey Water Customer Services Manager Tania Sargent said it's to ensure staff and customers are safe.
“Owing to the severity of the predicted weather conditions, cesspit service collections are suspended between 5pm Wednesday 1 November and at least 2pm Thursday 2 November.
“This includes emergency collections and there will be no exceptions. It is simply too dangerous for us to send staff out, the risk to their safety is too great.
“Once it is safe for the service to resume, it will and this includes working the weekend. We know seeing a cesspit overflowing will be concerning, but staff safety has to take priority and we will be working to recover and restore the service as the weather conditions improve.
“We will make a further announcement at 2pm Thursday.”
All suspended collections will be done as soon as possible, she added.
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