£165,000 extra made by charging for bin Parishes get benefit of brown bin charge

BOROUGH chief Mike Hall has defended plans to pump the green waste charge surplus into a grant pot for projects only in the parishes, with Hinckley excluded.

The £165,000 excess, garnered due to an unexpectedly high takeup of the service, is part of a £700,000 fund aimed at progressing capital schemes such as sports facilities or community halls.

Some £535,000 had already been budgeted for the Developing Communities Fund (DCF) but the borough agreed to boost that figure with the unanticipated brown bin monies.

While supporting the principle of helping the villages, opposition leader Councillor Stuart Bray (Lib Dem, Hinckley Castle) said he was concerned residents of Hinckley town were missing out despite contributing to the tax.

He said if the charge was making a decent surplus why not reinvest it in the service and cut costs for those who want their garden waste recycled.

He added: “I don’t have a problem with the scheme itself, my issue is Hinckley people cannot access this funding even though they pay council tax and the green waste charge. I think it is generally unfair that this money may be going to pet projects in selective areas and Hinckley is simply ineligible.

“The charge has made more money than anticipated so the council ought to be thinking of reducing the cost for people.”

The brown bin levy was brought in by the new Tory administra-