‘Without the council’s intervention, the tip would have taken a further one or two weeks to reopen.’

Monday saw the reopening of the tip in Gerpins Lane. At the Havering Daily, we received many emails and messages asking us when the tip would be reopening as residents struggled with the removal of waste, in particular, garden waste as most of the green bins had not been emptied due to staff shortages.

We passed your comments on to the leader of the council who heard resident’s concerns and acted on them.

Councillor Damian White told the Havering Daily: “Had it not been for the council pushing for the reopening of the tip it would not be open. I spoke with the Chief Executive of the East London Waste Authority and officers in our council began the process to reopen it as staff there had not begun the process of reopening it.

“As the leader of the council, I listened to the residents and the vast majority of them wanted to see the safe reopening of the tip.

“Following Robert Jenrick MP’s announcement that cemeteries would be reopened, we acted very swiftly to get ours reopened for our residents and that then prompted me to speak with the Chief Executive of ELWA to get ready and be prepared to reopen the tip as I knew how important it was for Havering residents.

“If it had not been for the council’s intervention then the tip would have taken a further one or two weeks to reopen. I had been in discussion with the other local authorities such as Newham, Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge about the reopening of the tip. However, these Labour councils weren’t too keen or wanted this.

“I am delighted to see that common sense has been exercised and that our residents can use the tip that they pay for via their council tax.“