I want to use my column to draw people’s attention to a particularly important letter that has been sent to all households in the borough this week, writes DAVID RENARD.

The letter in question relates to changes to the day in which some residents’ household waste, recycling and garden waste is collected.

From Monday, October 31, more than half of Swindon’s households will be affected by changes to the waste collection routes, which have been altered to take account of new housing developments and the growing uptake in our green waste service.

I mentioned in a previous column how these route changes will save the council almost £300,000 a year, but they will also ensure we provide a more reliable service to residents.

It is important to note that it is only collection days that are likely to change.

The service you receive now will continue; you will still receive fortnightly household waste, recycling and green waste collections, while blue bag collections will continue to operate weekly.

The reason why we have written to all households about the changes is because we want to make the service even better than it is now and we need your help.

A great many of you do a fantastic job recycling your waste, but we want to encourage even more people to recycle and to separate items in their containers as this will make it even easier for our crews to sort the waste at the kerbside.

If you have seen our crews at work in the mornings, I’m sure you will have noticed how incredibly hard they work. Separating your recycling so that cardboard, glass, or cans are stored together will make a big difference to their workloads ensuring they work even more efficiently.

If you need additional recycling boxes in order to separate recycling more effectively we are more than happy to provide them.

Secondly, as part of the changes we are also asking people to put all their waste - refuse, plastics, recycling and green waste - out for 6.30am.

The letter sent to residents this week has a useful calendar with dates of future collections, which can be stuck on a fridge or equally convenient place, and also includes useful information about what waste can be recycled and how residents can subscribe to the paid-for green waste service.

If you have not received your letter or are still unsure about whether your waste collection day is changing you can input your address in our specially created postcode checker on the council’s website at: www.swindon.gov.uk/bins