ELDERLY and disabled Wee County residents' blue boxes could still be uplifted if councillors next week agree to ditch some savings.

The Place Committee is set to consider a report on the kerbside collection service for glass after it received a temporary reprieve in April amid local concerns over its planned cessation.

A range of options will be presented to elected members next Thursday, June 6, and documents indicate the service could be retained for those who qualify for assisted collections.

Assisted collections are provided by waste services for the elderly, those with medical conditions or a disability if they are unable to present their containers to the designated points.

However, the local authority will only consider applications if there is no one in the property to assist.

This would cost the council around £45,000 – a sum thought to be annual – if the collections are done by an external provider.

Providing the uplifts internally, with collections carried out by the council, would be around £73,000 a year with additional costs for replacement vehicles in future years, which could come to £145,000.

If the kerbside blue box collections are retained for those who need it the most, it will come at a reduced, four-weekly basis.

Around 1,500 local properties have signed up for assisted collections currently and around 600 of those required assistance with the presentation of the kerbside boxes.

If the scheme goes ahead, the local authority is expecting an increase in applications, which means further reviews going forward.

However, the move would address what documents called "our communities' primary concern in ensuring a sustainable collection service is retained for those residents who are unable to access the communal recycling facilities".

Originally, the cessation of the service was to save around £159,000 and came from a 2018-19 budget decision, which would partially need to be reversed by elected members to allow the change in plans.

The committee was due to debate the report last Thursday, May 23, but the meeting had to be postponed due to the EU elections.