Council plans to charge households £50 to collect garden waste
The garden waste service is paid through council tax and a one-off registration charge at the moment. Picture: Pixabay - Credit: Archant
Gardeners face having to pay £50 a year to have their green waste collected in future.
North Somerset councillor Bridget Petty. Picture: MARK ATHERTON - Credit: Archant
North Somerset Council is proposing introducing an annual charge and offering free composting kits as part of its climate emergency strategy.
The idea will be discussed at its full council meeting next month.
Cllr Bridget Petty, the council's executive member for the environment, said: "Our residents already do a great job at recycling, and our recycling rates are among the highest in the country, but we want to do more.
"Garden waste can be turned into an asset for our green-fingered residents, and we will be providing subsidised composting kits to encourage people to get started.
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"Most councils across the country charge for garden waste to be collected, and this is a fair approach.
"At the moment, all our residents are in effect paying for the service, even people without gardens.
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"We are committed to fairness, so this approach gives everyone with a garden the option to dispose of their garden waste free of charge or to pay for a service if they'd rather have it collected.
"We are also proposing that anyone who is eligible for the council tax support scheme also qualifies for a subsidised garden waste collection service, with the same proportion of discount applied."
The proposed change would see households fork out £50 to have a 240-litre bin of garden waste collected.
The council believes this will encourage more people to compost their green waste.
And it predicts the move would save the authority £900,000 over the next two financial years.
Cllr Petty added: "As well as encouraging home composting, I am also keen that we explore community composting schemes like the one already established in Winford.
"There might also be the potential for subsidised hot composting equipment which speeds-up the composting process."
The council says its proposed fee mirrors other authorities, adding the majority do charge.
Its spokesman said the average price is £46 a year.
