Council to charge £36 for green bin collection from next April

A South Gloucestershire Council green bin.

Bradley Stoke residents will have to start paying an annual fee of £36 from next April if they want the council to continue emptying their green bins.

South Gloucestershire Council’s Communities Committee, meeting on 10th September, voted to introduce the charge, which had been put forward as an option in the council’s draft waste management strategy for the period 2013-19.

The council will also offer pay-as-you-go garden waste sacks, available at £20 for a bundle of ten, as an alternative to using the green bin.

New measures to promote home composting as a more environment-friendly option for green waste will also be introduced.

Residents who do not wish to subscribe to the collection service, or to home compost, can continue to dispose of garden waste free of charge at their local SORT IT! household waste recycling centre.

Plans to include mixed plastics, drinks cartons and small electrical items within kerbside recycling services from next year were also approved by the committee.

People living in flats are also set to benefit from a more comprehensive recycling service, with the introduction of new arrangements at premises not suited to a standard kerbside collection.

A public consultation on the draft waste management strategy held earlier in the year was widely criticised for not giving residents the option to say they wished to continue with a free green waste collection service. The results of the consultation published ahead of the committee meeting showed that 39% of the 1631 respondents said they didn’t agree with any of the three chargeable options presented to them.

In a report to councillors, council officers warned that the district’s current 51 per cent recycling rate could fall by 1.5 per cent once green bin charging is introduced – below the national 50 per cent milestone.

Commenting after the meeting, Cllr James Hunt (Con, Emersons Green), Conservative Lead Member for Communities, said:

“Like so many residents, I’m disappointed that Labour and LibDem councillors have ambushed the public and voted to impose green bin charging after a sham consultation.”

“Residents have pointed out how this move will damage our local environment by increasing fly-tipping, backyard burning and black bin usage, which will cut the district’s recycling rate.”

“It really is misleading to suggest that slapping new taxes onto residents is the only way to save the council money. For instance, we should have been putting the pressure on SITA to work more efficiently, but instead, the council has leapt into cutting frontline services first.”

“The fact that more residents snubbed the consultation question on bin charging than chose another option, shows that opposition councillors were wrong to remove the only free option from the consultation at the last minute.”

The Labour Group accused the Conservatives of: “refusing to face up to the cuts that their government is imposing, and instead, playing games by unveiling an uncosted proposal [relating to double shift working by SITA] at the meeting”.

Speaking after the vote, Communities Lead Member Cllr Pat Rooney (Labour, Woodstock) said:

“Nobody wants to impose charges for a service that is currently free, and I recognise how unpopular this decision will be. However, the Council is staring at a black hole in its finances and is being forced by government cuts to slash services.”

Residents choosing not to use their green bin from April next year will be able to ask for it to be taken away. Unwanted bins will be collected by SITA UK, for the plastic body and metal components to be dismantled and recycled.

This article originally appeared in the October edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to all homes in Bradley Stoke.

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29 comments

  1. “Communities Lead Member Cllr Pat Rooney (Labour, Woodstock) said: “Nobody wants to impose charges for a service that is currently free”

    Well, that’s not strictly true, is it? We currently DO pay for it by means of our Council Tax.

    What about those who are unable to pay this extra cost, and do not have the means to take their green bin waste to the Sort It recycling centres?

    You’ve let us down South Gloucestershire Council

  2. Hahahaha! Have these guys seen my ‘garden’? Composting in that isn’t an option. And I’m not paying, so into the black bin goes my green waste. Yay recycling!

  3. Struggling to pay council tax, as it is, let alone paying more money..I’m an avid recycler of all I can..it breaks my heart when all my efforts go to waste, eg..when the plastic recycle collectors leave three quarters of all plastic I recycle behind them as ‘they only collect milk cartons’ etc.. they leave half the food in my recycle food bin and do a similar collection of half the glass/tins I leave out for them. Meanwhile, because I can only put leaves, grass and hedge cuttings etc. in the big green bin, mainly in summer months, it’s pretty much empty rest of year.. and now they want to charge nearly £40 for the pleasure of using/emptying of a bin that gathers dust most of year… really money grabbing insanity.. the council would want to sort out some proper recycling to entice folk to continuing recycling as much as possible in these hard times, before they start putting more folk off. I can’t afford this extra cost, so therefore, as much as I hate it, my green garden waste will be going in the black bin from then on, if they do impose this charge.

  4. Given the green bin can only be used for garden waste, it doesn’t get used over the winter months. I don’t mow the lawn, so it stands idle.

    The system was better when you could put cardboard in it as well. At least it got used every week….

  5. Well mine will be going back into the black bin also.

    Have to say, not one councillor has suggested looking at boundaries (cutting the number of councillors) or their expenses as an option….if they can’t cut their cloth and make sacrifices why should they expect us too??

  6. Makes the next election simpler – did you vote for charging for the green bin? You did..well don’t bother asking for my vote…

  7. Before we start getting rid of County councillors who earn a £10,000 yearly allowance how about of getting rid of Amanda Deeks. Who is that I hear you ask? Well she is the unelected chief executive of South Glos Council and earns an eye watering £155,000 per annum plus gold plated pension! David Cameron earns £142,500. Once she’s gone lets look at the other executives to see where savings can be made.

  8. Another crackpot idea from those who are supposed to represent us.
    There’s enough green waste fly tipping near me as it is. This will increase it. Seems some residents feel that if there’s a lane alongside their house it’s for emptying the lawn mowings into.
    There’s a lane that runs adjacent to the motorway in BS North and local residents use it to dump whatever they feel
    As for home composting well recycling bins already take up a lot of space in gardens.
    Ed. Who did vote in this measure? Can we find out? So we can decide if they get a vote from us next election

  9. “Unwanted bins will be collected by SITA UK, for the plastic body and metal components to be dismantled and recycled”

    It’s a shame they can’t do the same with councillors!

  10. Will be sending my green bin back as I only put it out at most once every 2 months. Will have to buy some of their bags though or put what ever I do have in the black bin!

  11. Why can’t we use the green bin for cardboard instead? At the moment it’s a nightmare trying to keep on top of all the card and I never have anywhere to put it. The green bin would be perfect.

  12. We store all the other recycling bags in the green bin so it does have its uses. When our grass is cut it only just fills the bin half way so no problems. Will use black bags and the other half will either have to go to the tip or it goes in the black bin. Its not a free service – who are they trying to fool. As far as I am concerned its covered in the council tax.

  13. Well said Richard Philips!

    Next time you hear about “savage cuts” just follow the Council’s money trail and what is revealed is a colossal waste of our money.

    As for Labour’s Pat Rooney, please come canvassing round my way as I need some sport and you must get eaten alive when debating if you trot out lies about recycling being previously free to your potential electorate.

  14. Happy – I phoned up and asked what size the bags where when the documentation about this came through the door. They didn’t know! How were people to decided if that was a worthwhile option?

  15. and when the green bins are re-cycled and in a few months or so the council reverse this decision due to black bins being filled with garden waste, fly tipping, etc, who will pay for then new batch of green bins that will be returned to the majority of households that have given them up ???

  16. I think it’s outrageous as do many other South Glos Residents I know but like others have said it only gets used for six months of the year and the other sux it’s used for storage so whatever we won’t be paying it. I’m still perplexed how my house is in Band D for Council Tax though, it’s certainly not huge! Does anyone know how I can look in to this…. Thanks?

  17. One can only assume the above submitted their protest and opinions to South Glos when the Consultation was opened on line, or attended the Road Show where the general opinion was that the charge was totally unacceptable.

    However ! What was the point as it was totally ignored by the Council anyway !!

    Labour and Liberals are once again trying to make a childish point
    and voting against the interest of the public who voted for them to try and gain brownie points. Unfortunately, it has backfired !!

    Remember who you voted for.

    Get rid of half the Councillor’s and save tens of thousands of pounds. You could also get rid of some of the top heavy and highly paid South Glos Management with the bonus of inflation proof pensions ( which most of us can only dream of)and early retirement opportunities

  18. Totally agree, let’s cull the councils, too many Councillors on towns and districts, true as said elsewhere, town and parish councils are ignored by SGC anyway, just like the residents! Elect badgers, get more sense out of them, and cheaper to feed.

    As for Amanda Deeks, spot on, am I right in remembering she was forced to take a pay cut in the past when it was even higher than it is now?

    Couldn’t see her running into a burning building. Unless it was to pick up her purse!

  19. Totally agree, let’s cull the councils, too many Councillors on towns and districts, true as said elsewhere, town and parish councils are ignored by SGC anyway, just like the residents. Elect some saved badgers, get more sense out of them, and cheaper to feed.

    As for Amanda Deeks, spot on, am I right in remembering she was forced to take a pay cut in the past when it was even higher than it is now?

    Couldn’t see her running into a burning building. Unless it was to pick up her purse!

  20. My green bin will going back next year, and I don’t require a compost bin. The last one I was given I gave away to someone at work. Same will happen with this one.

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