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GARDEN BIN CHARGES
I wanted to give an update on the proposed Garden Bin Charges by Cheshire East Council as several residents have asked me about this recently.
Over 60% of respondents to the recent Budget Consultation did not support this proposal and there has been ongoing public opposition to the charge by many Council Tax payers.
Cheshire East Council is run by a Labour/Independent Group coalition who put forward a proposal to bring in a £56 annual charge for collecting garden waste bins which was narrowly approved by councillors.
As a Conservative group member, we opposed this new charge proposed by Labour and the Independents as we see it as a form of 'garden tax', and the income from the new charges would likely exceed the costs to run the service.
Seven committee members voted for the subscription charge to go ahead from January and the five Conservatives voted against.
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, Crewe, 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
Our Conservative Group have formally challenged the proposals by submitting a 'Referral Request' (or 'Call-In') of the decision.
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.
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