Essex council takes ‘difficult decision’ to charge for bin collections

Residents who live in Braintree will soon have to start paying to have their garden waste collected by the local council. Braintree District Council said the "difficult decision" was made due to the "current economic climate and with council budgets under significant pressure".

The current service is believed to cost the council around £683,000, which they say is no longer affordable or sustainable. The council says the current service is "disproportionate" as it's funded by taxpaying residents regardless of whether they use the service or not. They say that adding a charge ensures only those who need the service pay for it.

Residents will have to pay £55 per year for 2024/25, with the charge come into effect from March 2024. Residents who sign up before November 30 this year, however, will benefit from a reduced price of £27.50 per year. Additional bin collections are available at an extra charge.

Collections will be every fortnight throughout the year apart from the week before and the week after Christmas, compared to the current service which is suspended for 3 months over the winter period.

The new service will start week commencing March 4, 2024 and in the first year the subscription will cover a 13-month period until end March 2025. Thereafter each subscription year will cover a 12-month period from April to March.

Those who have subscribed to the service will receive a sticker to put on their bin and the crews will have handheld devices to check that the property has paid for the service. Bins not displaying the sticker will not be emptied.

For properties that do not have bins, garden waste will only be collected in bio-degradable sacks available from the Council at a cost of £8 per roll of 20 sacks, which also includes the cost of delivery and collections. Residents will be able to purchase rolls of sacks using an online form on the Council’s website.

Cllr Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Transformation, the Environment and Customer Services at Braintree District Council said: “Every council in the country is having to make difficult decisions about what it can afford to do and 70% of councils nationwide, including nine across Essex, have already moved to a subscription model for garden waste.

"Not every resident is fortunate enough to have a garden and some prefer to compost at home, so it is fair to ask those who want their waste collected by us, to pay for that service. We are keen to maintain a garden waste collection to residents, however, the only way this can be achieved is to recover the cost of the collections.

“If residents don’t want to pay for the service, they can dispose of their garden waste by taking it to their nearest Essex County Council’s Recycling Centre. Better still I hope this encourages people to think about composting at home."

References

1. ^{^} Essex grandma forced to give up job after cancer diagnosis (www.essexlive.news)