WE could soon end up paying for our garden waste to be taken away by Rossendale council.

Rossendale council, which collects our rubbish, receives £550k a year from Lancashire county council, which is responsible for waste management, to spend on projects which help divert rubbish from landfill.

LCC is scrapping that allowance due to budget cuts. So Rossendale is working out how to keep providing the same services with less cash.

To me, an annual charge for collecting garden waste is a reasonable compromise in the circumstances. £25 a year to avoid going to the tip every other weekend in the summer seems fair enough.

But the issue is another reminder of the horrific red tape waste we endure as Lancashire taxpayers as a result of a two-tier council system. We have one set of council staff deciding to save money by cutting grants to another council, which then deploys a set of council officers to work out how to provide the services which rely on that grant.

Surely we’d all be better off, not just financially, if someone in Lancashire’s political parties broke ranks and called this out for what it is: a farce. Two-tier councils are little more than the confection of political fudges from 40 years ago. At a time when LCC can’t see how it will break even in two years, shouldn’t someone be flying the flag for cutting red tape and bringing in one-tier authorities across Lancashire. Bringing democracy and decisionmaking closer to Rossendale wouldn’t just save money, it’d be good for civic life too.