Online protest against garden waste charge gains momentum

Hundreds of disgruntled residents have signed a petition against new charges for garden waste kerbside collections.

Perth and Kinross Council are reintroducing an annual charge for the uplift of brown bins.

From April, all households will have to apply for a £25 permit in order to continue having gardening waste collected. However, the move has sparked outrage among some locals.

Clare Reid set up an online petition on the influential change.org website, calling for the scheme to be scrapped.

She posted: “So what happens when trees shed all their leaves in autumn and end up covering your gardens, your garden paths and steps?

“Are we going to get charged to dispose of these?”

The petition has so far raised nearly 900 signatures.

Meanwhile, the local authority has struck a £53,000 agreement with a Londonbased printing firm to arrange a letter drop, to alert more than 57,000 households about the new charge.

Around 40% are expected to apply before the scheme begins on April 1.

Letters are expected to go out later this month, explain how to register and pay for permit.

The council has collected garden waste for free since 2004, when government funding made it possible.

Outlining the new scheme, a council spokeswoman said: “In the current climate, councils must make difficult financial decisions.”

She added: “When the garden waste service was first introduced to householders in the late 1990s, it was a chargeable service.”