Dundee brown bin fees to increase despite

DUNDEE residents will have to pay more next year to have their garden bins emptied.

Accusations that an increase in the “garden tax” was actually a stealth tax failed to reverse plans to increase the annual charge for the brown garden bins from £35 to £40.

The increase was approved by city councillors last night after a vote. Councillors heard the increase will raise an extra £100,000 for the authority in the next financial year.

However, despite a recommendation to the council’s policy and resources committee that the increase should be approved, there were two amendments against the bid.

Liberal Democrat councillor for the West End, Fraser Macpherson, moved an amendment that the collection fee should actually drop to £30 per annum.

Meantime Labour leader on the council, Kevin Keenan moved that the current £35 per annum charge should remain.

He said the proposed increase was a 14% hike in the cost and asked how the council could justify levying that on residents.

He said: “I would move that the cost actually be reduced to £30. An increase in the bin fee undermines our recycling policy.”

Moving the status quo at £35, Labour’s Kevin Keenan said: “This increase is just another stealth tax on residents.”

Head of environmental services Tony Boyle said the cost was required to increase to cover increases in administering the service.

He said: “There has been a greater than expected uptake, therefore it is going to cost more to run.

“We had expected 17,000 people to subscribe to this but in fact 24,000 people have signed up.”

It’s the first price increase since the charge was introduced in 2019-20.

Registration for the scheme will open from next month, in advance of the collections starting in March.