Council defends price hike for garden waste collection

Charnwood homes will have to pay £40 per year.

Councillors have defended the decision to charge £40 per year to have garden waste collected from homes in the Charnwood Borough.

The new charges come in from May 2018. Despite the increase since 2017, the council says it plans to freeze the price for two years.

Cllr Leigh Harper-Davies, lead member for the performance of major contracts, said: “We accept the increase for 2018 is larger than in previous years but these are challenging times for local government funding. In 2015 we lost a significant amount of funding when the county council withdrew recycling credits worth around £300,000 a year which was used to help cover the costs of the service. We’ve had to increase the charge since then to help make up that shortfall and cover increases in the costs of providing the service."

He continued, “There are further challenges ahead as recycling credits which contribute to the general household recycling service are being withdrawn by the county council this year, a loss of £500,000 to the borough council. Despite this we will still offer free bulky waste collections to Charnwood residents while many other authorities charge £15 or more. And while we are fortunate to be very financially stable, we need to manage our finances carefully and sensibly."

“Garden waste collection is not a service we have to provide, nor do people have to subscribe, but we do believe it is an excellent service, value for money and one people want.”

More information on the Council's service can be found here.  www.charnwood.gov.uk/gardenwaste