Garden waste collections to suit the council

SIR – You report (June 25) that councils have gained an additional £74 million since charging for garden waste removal.

Coinciding with this charge, we had our collection reduced to once a fortnight – insufficient in the summer and unnecessary in the winter.

My suggestion for collections to be made weekly in summer and monthly in winter was met with an indifferent response from our local council, on the grounds that it would be inconvenient. It was suggested that we should pay for an additional bin, take the waste to the tip or compost it.

In my response, I compared this to visiting a restaurant and ordering a meal and a pudding, then being told by the proprietor that he would prefer us to have two meals that day and two puddings a fortnight later, as it suited him better. Alternatively, we could go to another restaurant, or perhaps even cook the meal at home.

I have received no reply. Bob Stebbings

Chorleywood, Hertfordshire SIR – I live in a house with a garden, and my council charges me less than a £1 a week to collect my garden waste.

This service is not – and should not be – subsidised by people who do not have a garden. Charging those who do means that the council can maintain a weekly rubbish collection for everyone.

That sounds like good management to me. Roger Gentry

Sutton-at-hone, Kent

SIR – Where I live, I have a black bin for recycling, a green bin for household rubbish and a brown bin for garden waste.

When I visit my daughter in Sheffield I am faced with a black bin for household waste, a green bin for garden waste and a blue bin for recycling.

Couldn’t councils get their act together and save an old bloke spending his time filling the wrong bin? Patrick Fuller

Upper Farringdon, Hampshire