Following the results of a recent public consultation, a council report recommended the council introduce a £35 annual subscription charge for fortnightly household garden waste collections from April 2017.
But, earlier this month (December 7) a council committee deferred a final decision until its next meeting on January 27.
According to a council spokesman, the committee has requested more information on the effect of charging for green waste on other councils to have introduced charges, as well as on possible concessions and changes to staffing arrangements.
The council has in recent years consistently achieved one of the highest composting rates in England, stacking up a record-setting green rate of 43.35% in 2013/14.
And, in 2015/15, Three Rivers achieved an overall recycling, reuse and composting rate of 63.2%, making it the fifth-top performing council in England.
The council runs its collection service in-house and sends its garden waste for processing at West London Composting Ltd in Harefield, Middlesex.
However, residents were in October consulted on the possibility of moving away from its free, fortnightly service towards charging up to £70 a year due to ‘increasing financial pressure’ from local government funding cuts (see letsrecycle.com story).
Survey results
More than 4,000 residents responded to the consultation survey, of which 90% said they found the service ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and 78% said they would prefer to pay for the service rather than see it discontinued altogether.
“This will enable the cost to be borne by those wishing to use the service, rather than it being a general charge on council tax payers.”
Council report
Three Rivers district council
According to the survey results, three quarters (76%) of respondents would be prepared to pay up to £35 a year for garden waste removal. This drops to just under half (47%) who would be prepared to pay up to £50 and a quarter (26%) that would be prepared to pay up to £70 a year.
As a result, the council report recommended that due to “sufficient support” for the service being demonstrated by respondents, a £35 charge should be introduced for the collection and disposal of garden waste, based on a single bin being collected 24 times each year.
The report states: “This will enable the cost to be borne by those wishing to use the service, rather than it being a general charge on council tax payers.”
Income
In a worst-case scenario, the council estimates that 50% of residents with gardens will pay the charge, which could generate income for the council in excess of £500,000 per year – although this does not take into account the cost of administering the scheme.
It recommends that the charge should not come into effect before April 1 2017 “in order to ensure a seamless service transition”
In addition, the report suggests maintaining the existing £70 charge for the collection of a second green waste container.
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