Tory councillors on Cheshire East Council have said they are “formally challenging” the authority’s plan to charge £56 for garden waste collections.
Labour-led CEC says the charge is necessary as the council is facing a £20 million funding gap and that other authorities already charge for the collections.
However, there has been a backlash from the public since the charge was announced.
It has emerged the £56 annual fee – set to come into effect from January 2024 – is the highest in the North West.
In a statement from Conservative Group leader Cllr Janet Clowes and Cllr Tony Dean, they said: “Members have formally challenged the council’s decision to introduce the highest charges in the North-West (£56) for Green Bin collection, by submitting a ‘Referral Request’ (or ‘Call-In’) of the decision.
“Although other councils charge for green waste collection, Cheshire East Council is unusual in that it invested in its own purpose-built green waste hub at Leighton Grange, to be operated with a business partner.
“The business case was based on free home collections for maximum tonnage and the production of high quality compost for sale.
“No other viable alternatives have been brought forward by the administration for consideration by elected councillors and the income to be generated by the proposed charges significantly exceeds the annual running costs of the green waste service.
“The green bin charge was proposed in the February Budget and only narrowly approved in a Yes/No vote at the recent Environment and Communities Committee.
“Over 60% of respondents to the Budget Consultation did not support this proposal and there has been ongoing public opposition to the charge by many Council Tax payers.”
The statement added that the “Referral request” has been sent to the council’s Monitoring Officer within the five-day call-in period and his decision is awaited.
If accepted, the decision will be reviewed at the next meeting of Full Council. That’s not due to take place until October 18.
Previously, CEC defended the plan for the charge.
Cllr Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East’s environment and communities committee, said last week: “As with any subscription scheme, there will always be variations with the fee that is set.
“Deciding the subscription charge for garden waste collections in Cheshire East included looking at similarly bench-marked local authorities, and the fees ranged between £40 and £60 per bin.
“The £56 subscription fee that has been set for Cheshire East residents also reflects that we only have a small shutdown period over the Christmas and New Year period for garden bin collections, unlike many other local authorities where this shutdown can be as much as 12 weeks plus.
“If residents choose not to opt-in into the garden waste subscription service, they can continue to dispose of their garden waste for free at our household waste recycling centres.
“Our waste strategy encourages residents to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste as much as they possibly can – this includes encouraging people to try home composting and to minimise food waste though the ‘love food hate waste’ programme.
“Home composting is an excellent and environmentally-friendly way of transforming garden waste and fruit and vegetable peelings into a valuable and nutrient rich food for people’s gardens.”
If they go ahead with this charge there should be weekly collections throughout the year. You can’t charge for a service and then decide not to provide it when it doesn’t suit you.
The Conservatives have always opposed this charge and that was made clear in their election advertising in May. Sadly not enough people listened.
At last some councillors our taking action on behalf of the people they represent, well the Conservative ones at least.
I hope the new charge gets thrown out,and the council actually does what it should have done from the start and look to maximise the potential profit on our green waste recycling plant,not just look at the short term and charge us for it.