£5 garden waste fee approved

The council currently has a free garden waste collection but following yesterday’s decision, based on the recommendations of a cabinet report, people will have to pay at least £5, even if they only have one bag.

Anyone who has more than five bags will face an additional cost of £1 per bag.

The cash-strapped council, which needs to save £80m by 2014 owing to cuts in Government funding, said it was introducing the measure as part of a cost-cutting strategy.

A council spokesman said the charges, due to be introduced from October 1, will save the council around £228,000 a year.

However, the move has been branded “ludicrous” by one pensioners’ organisation which believes it will not only penalise people who are trying to keep their gardens tidy, but also the disabled and elderly who do not have a car to take waste to a tip.

Coun Kath Pinnock, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, and Coun David Hall, deputy leader of the Tories, have both stressed the need to make difficult decisions to preserve other services.

The council, which promotes home composting for garden waste, said the changes would not impact on other waste collections.