Campaigners in South Gloucestershire have claimed that ‘the most anti-green measure in the council’s history’ came into force on Monday 31st March.
On April 1st households will be charged £36 a year to have their green bin waste collected – a service previously included as part of council tax bills.
Angry residents and community leaders have branded the measure – voted through by Labour and LibDem councillors – as a ‘bin tax’ and have protested outside various council recycling centres over recent weeks.
Of the almost 2,000 responses the council received during its consultation, a majority of comments were negative about green bin charging with 39 per cent of residents refusing even to respond to the question of which charging option they preferred, despite going on to answer the remaining consultation questions.
Many people dispute the claim that the tax will save the authority the amount of money planned because of the increased costs of people simply putting their green waste in their black bin or fly-tipping.
In a report to councillors last September, council officials admitted that the bin tax will:
· increase the cost of living via a new stealth tax on hard-pressed and hardworking households who already pay for their green bin waste to be collected through their council tax bills;
· cut recycling rates - Introducing the bin tax will reduce the overall tonnage of garden waste handled, which will reduce the council’s recycling performance by up to 1.5 percentage points. The rate would reduce even further depending on the amount of garden waste placed in the black bin and 28 per cent of respondents to the council’s consultation said they would do this to avoid being charged;
· put yet more pressure on the council’s congested recycling centres - Around 75,000 more visits a year (a 10 per cent increase) to the council’s four Sort It centres will be generated by residents keen to avoid the bin tax;
· increase fly-tipping – 15 per cent of respondents to the council’s consultation said that a bin tax would lead to them or others fly tipping their garden waste. The council states that this is ‘inevitable’ and there is evidence of increased fly-tipping in areas where a bin tax has already been implemented;
· worsen local air quality – 12 per cent of respondents to the council’s consultation were concerned about the environmental impact of people burning their garden waste and worsening local air quality; and
· create animosity between neighbours as a result of people putting their garden waste in their neighbour’s green bin without permission.
Cllr Ian Adams (Con, Siston and Warmley) is the Conservative Lead Member on the council’s Communities Committee and is leading the campaign on the council against the bin tax. He said:
“The council has admitted that charging for collecting green bins will heap yet more pressure onto our dangerously congested Sort It recycling centres, will lead to a surge in fly-tipping and a cut in recycling as more people put their green waste in their black bin.
Following on from a sham consultation, this will go down as the most anti-green measure that South Gloucestershire Council has ever introduced, which will not raise the amount of tax that is planned.
It’s not too late for Labour and LibDem councillors to think again and drop their punitive bin tax plan.
Not only will this stealth tax damage the environment, but it will also damage communities by increasing the cost of living and creating animosity between neighbours.
Lives are already being put at risk around our congested Sort It centres and it's only a matter of time before there's a serious accident, which is why we need something to be done about this road safety risk.
I'm calling on the council to urgently address the community's very real concerns about the outrageous effects of this new bin tax and how it will negatively impact upon people’s daily lives.”