But threat of charging for garden waste remains
At last night's meeting of Basildon Council's Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee, after Basildon Conservatives lifted the lid on the Labour-led Administration's plans, it has been confirmation that there will be no changes to black sack waste collections “For four or five years“. Collections will remain weekly (and we will seek to keep it that way).
Conservative councillors vigorously challenged Labour and their Independent backers on their proposals to consider options for waste collection in the Borough, which have included fortnightly collections and charging for some services.
Cllr Malcolm Buckley (Con, Wickford Castledon), Basildon Conservatives Spokesman on Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces, said: “I was pleased that we were able to gain this agreement from the Chairman of the meeting and this will reassure residents that, although at a future date food waste will need to be separated from green and residual waste, the collections for food and black bag waste will remain on a weekly basis.“
Garden waste collections remain, however, under threat.
Options are still being considered by the Labour-led Administration to change the way that garden waste is collected in the Borough. These options were also discussed at the Neighbourhood and Public Spaces Committee.
"A reduction in green waste collections or the imposition of charges is likely to result in fly-tipping of this waste. There are very few residents that do not consider fly-tipping to be a serious problem in the Borough and we hope that when the Committee reconsiders green waste collection, a way will be found to continue a high level of service without imposing a stealth tax on residents." ~ Cllr Malcolm Buckley, Spokesman on Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces
Initially, proposals included the possibility of charging for the collection of garden waste and reducing the frequency of collections from weekly to fortnightly, in addition to only collecting for 40 weeks of the year. This would have been a reduction from 50 collections of green waste bins per year to only 20 - a 60% reduction!
Following challenges by Conservative councillors and social media comment from members of the public, the options will now be reconsidered in the New Year following a very small trial at only a hundred homes in the borough.
Councillor Buckley said: “A reduction in green waste collections or the imposition of charges is likely to result in fly-tipping of this waste. There are very few residents that do not consider fly-tipping to be a serious problem in the Borough and we hope that when the Committee reconsiders green waste collection, a way will be found to continue a high level of service without imposing a stealth tax on residents."
