BIN FEES GET THE GREEN LIGHT
DERBYSHIRE Dales councillors have unanimously agreed to push ahead with plans to charge for garden waste collections.
The district council’s current contract with Serco Limited, costing £1.9 million per year, runs out in August 2020 and the authority has been on the hunt for a replacement.
It says that the current service cannot remain the same due to changes in the market, including the value of recyclable material and continued pressures on the council’s finances.
The authority says that the current contract would cost £2.5 million a year if it was awarded under current market pressures, which would be “unaffordable”. The council’s total annual budget is around £35 million a year.
As a result it put forward a series of potential changes, including changing to fourweekly waste pickups and a range of potential charges for garden waste pickups from £25 up to £55 per year.
After a record response to its consultation, with more than 2,600 people sharing their views, the authority has ditched the four-weekly proposals but is carrying forward with chargeable fortnightly pickups for garden waste.
At a meeting last Thursday, councillors finalised key details of the future waste contract so it could begin tender planning. It is thought that eight companies are being courted by the authority.
The council is keen to retain the possibility of changing pickups for residual waste from fortnightly to threeweekly from 2024 – halfway through the proposed new eight-year contract.
Under the council’s current contract, the private firm accepts all liability for the service but this would not be an option under the future contract.
It says companies are more cautious and would only be willing to share the liability with the council - to be agreed in further talks.
Of those who responded to the consultation, some 40 per cent said they would be willing to pay for garden waste pick-ups, with 72 per cent saying they would pay £25.
Council officers say the national average price for garden waste collections is £40 per year – which could bring in an extra £454,000 a year.
The service would be opt-in not opt-out.
Several Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors said they voted to push forward with the contract for the good of residents but “with a heavy heart”.
Cllr Irene Ratcliffe said the authority should have considered a council tax hike instead of charging for garden waste, so the service could remain the same. She said she voted for the contract to push ahead but “had a bad taste in her mouth”.
Cllr Ratcliffe said the authority could have chosen to share services or work more closely with neighbouring councils.
Cllr Martin Burfoot also called for a rise in council tax instead of the charges, saying a council tax levy was less complicated to bring in.
He also feared recycling rates would go down as a result of the proposals along with increases in fly-tipping.
The Dales district has the highest recycling rates in Derbyshire at 57 per cent – the target from government is 60 per cent, and this could rise to 65 per cent.
Cllr Peter Slack said that when the current contract was first brought in, lots of residents were burning excess recyclable waste in their gardens and “there was smoke everywhere”.
He suspects the same could happen again.
Conservative members said they were “horrified” at the council tax hike suggestion. Cllr Vicky Massey-bloodworth said: “I am from a low-income household and the thought of raising tax would be much more terrifying.”
Deputy leader Cllr Albert Catt said: “If they don’t want it they don’t have to subsidise others getting it.”
Cllr Garry Purdy said that a charge of a pound a week would be acceptable.
Council leader Lewis Rose said: “The most important thing for residents is ‘is my bin going to be collected’?.
“It is a service which, to a certain extent, is taken for granted.
“I think this is the right step at this stage. It is a very, very important service for our residents and we have to get it right.”
Cllr Colin Swindell said that previous issues with the current contract had been a real cause for concern, with refuse trucks knocking over walls and struggling to get to houses “in the back of beyond”.
Cllr Sue Burfoot stated that this must have a serious amount of consideration, particularly due to the limited space for refuse vehicles to access houses on Matlock Bank.
She says emergency services cannot navigate many of these streets as it is.
I think this is the right step at this stage. It is a very, very important service and we have to get it right. Cllr Lewis Rose