Communities secretary Eric Pickles has slammed Somerset councils decision to introduce a charge for residents to use household waste recycling centres in a bid to keep them open.
Labelling the move counter-productive, Mr Pickles claimed it would encourage flytipping and questioned the legality of the proposed charge of up to 2 per visit, suggesting it runs contrary to the intention of Parliament.
The charge, which came into effect at four HWRCs earlier this week (see letsrecycle.com story), was agreed by the six councils that make up the Somerset Waste Partnership as a way to keep the sites open in the face of the 43 million savings Somerset county council has to make this year.
But, Mr Pickles criticised the introduction of the charge, linking his opposition to the governments commitment to stop councils from being able to run pay-as-you-throw schemes, and claiming the levy would end up costing taxpayers money.
He said: The new Government is abolishing Labours bin taxes and we will not allow municipal bureaucrats to introduce such backdoor bin charges for the collection or disposal of normal household waste. People already pay 120 a month in council tax for local services.
He added: These tip taxes are utterly counter-productive. Charging for using recycling centres and the local dump will create perverse incentives for fly-tipping, harming the local environment and diverting taxpayers money to clean up the mess.
In light of his grave concerns over the move, Mr Pickles urged Somerset residents to report the council to both the district auditor and the Local Government Ombudsman.
Maximum charge
While the maximum charge set by Somersets councils is 2, Crewkerne town council, which is home to one of the four sites, has already opted to subsidise operations at its recycling centre so that residents only pay 1.20 per visit. The other three sites affected, at Coleford, Dulverton and Middlezoy, are all charging 2 per visit.
Somerset currently has 18 household waste recycling centres, all of which are managed by Viridor, but plans to close the four sites emerged last year in a move which aroused considerable local opposition (see letsrecycle.com story).
The proposals to introduce a charge came to lightlast month (see letsrecycle.com story).
And in a statement issued today (April 7), the Somerset Waste Partnership said: “The four Community Recycling Sites were originally earmarked for closure as part of the savings package but, in response to a strong message from the local community that a fee would be acceptable, charging has been introduced as an alternative.
“The legal obligation to provide sites free of charge for household waste is fulfilled through the remaining 14 sites. This still leaves Somerset with one of the highest density of Recycling Centres for our residents in the country.”
Register for free to comment