Councils are facing a backlash from residents over moves to charge for green waste collection.
Over the past year, more and more local authorities have started charging for green waste collections in order to help plug holes in their budgets
In York, Labour have included a cut of £250,000 over the next 2 years in the costs of collecting green waste. The green bins have been popular in York with most residents in sub urban areas routinely using the service.
The cuts could be made either by discontinuing the service all together (and perhaps providing composting bins to residents) or by charging for the bins as Labour & Conservative Councils are doing elsewhere in the Country (see below).
Either way, when added to the rearrangement of collection rounds (different types of waste will in future be collected on different days of the week) and the closure of Household Waste Sites, it means significant change for many York residents.
If the Council are to go ahead with such a proposal then they should be consulting residents now, not leaving it to the last minute as happened with the Beckfield Lane issue.
Residents in Newcastle, Melton in Leicestershire and Bracknell Forest in Berkshire are the latest to come out against the charges, which they claim are equivalent to a stealth tax.