Residents face £45 charge for a second green bin

FACILITY WILL BE ASKED TO PAY – FOR TIME BEING

ONLY THOSE WHO APPLY FOR EXTRA

CHARGES for second garden waste bins are set to be introduced in a county district, potentially affecting 22,000 households.

The trial scheme will see homes which come under North West Leicestershire District Council having to apply for a second garden waste bin and charged £45 a year for the service.

The first will be provided and emptied free of charge, as now.

The change is one of a series of recommendations approved at a North West Leicestershire District Council cabinet meeting last week.

It was also agreed that a number of “mini recycling” sites across the district will be closed. There are 36 across the district, and 29 will close due to “duplication of service”.

Properties that already have two bins will not be charged yet, but anyone who enquires about a second garden waste bin between now and next year will incur the £45 subscription charge.

Officers will decide before November whether the charge will be introduced to all two garden bin households.

A report on the council’s refuse and recycling service said: “The council’s policy was adopted in 2013, a maximum of one garden waste wheeled bin is allowed per household. However, some households have two, and this dates back to a period where NWLDC made additional garden bins available. Over time this resulted in significant additional time to collect the garden waste being produced.”

Garden waste collection crews estimate that between 50 and 60 per cent of households have a second garden bin – roughly 22,000 properties.

The report added: “If customers have a smaller 140-litre garden bin, they can exchange it for a larger 240-litre garden bin.

“However, the waste services team receive a small number of requests from residents who would like a second garden bin, with some of them willing to pay for one.”

The proposed £45 charge would cover the bin cost, delivery, emptying and administration, the report states.

COUNCIL bosses are adding £1 million to the Covid Winter Grant scheme to support vulnerable families and individuals struggling to cope financially as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leicester’s scheme began on December 1, 2020, with £1.4 million of government funding to support vulnerable working families and individuals to meet the cost of food, energy, water and other essentials to keep warm and fed over the winter.

The scheme provided food vouchers to those children who would normally receive free school meals across the Christmas period and February half-term break, to ensure no child went hungry. Nearly 15,000 children across the city received support.

Leicester has been in lockdown longer than any other area in the UK, meaning many householders’ incomes have continued to be affected by redundancy or furloughing, even when businesses in other parts of the country were able to open at times last year.

Now, the city council has invested a further £1 million of its own resources into the scheme to ensure it can continue to provide help to as many people as possible until the scheme ends on March 31.

So far, more than 2,000 claims have already been paid out, with more than 1,000 further claims currently being assessed. City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “People in Leicester have suffered huge disruption to their family lives for nearly 12 months now, longer than anywhere else in the UK, and many are facing real financial uncertainty.

“Last year, Marcus Rashford’s fantastic campaign work forced the government to offer this support, and our additional investment will ensure that help can reach all eligible people who apply.

“We’ve been working closely with schools, the voluntary sector and other partners who can help us identify vulnerable households which need help.

“In many cases they are households which previously were just about managing financially, but for whom redundancy or reduction in income because of Covid-19 has meant they desperately need financial help.”

The Leicester Covid Winter Grant Scheme is part of a wider winter support package for families and children.

It builds upon Leicester’s holiday hunger programme, which has provided similar support to thousands of families over many years.

For details of how to apply for help, visit:

Our additional investment will ensure that help can reach all eligible people who apply

City mayor