| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Labour's new £1 million garden tax | |
| Posted by: | Jason Stacey | |
| Date/Time: | 12/09/11 12:57:00 |
| I hope forum readers will not mind me posting on here but after reading Cllr Mahfouz's 'explanation' about the proposed changes to garden waste, it deserved a reply. The key fact around recycling is that the easier you make it for residents to participate in and that it is free at the point of use, the more residents will use it. Cllr Mahfouz does not need to look to other London boroughs as the history of the garden waste recycling collection here in Ealing already highlights this fact . Readers may recall that when garden waste recycling collection was first introduced it operated on a system of residents purchasing pink sacks at 50p a time. The abolition of this charge in 2006 had an immediate impact and usage by residents increased significantly (to the point where I recall we had to use issue white sacks for a few weeks because we could not replenish the stock of pink bags as quickly as they were going out the door). The introduction of the three pink reusable sacks in November 2007 removed the second 'hassle' (the need to keep ordering sacks) and once again the council saw a significant increase in the amount of recycling being presented by residents and the corresponding increase in the borough's recycling rates. The policy of recycling as much as possible at the doorstep together with the principle of it being free of charge at the point of delivery meant that in four years the borough recycling effectively doubled from 19% to 38%. The evidence of the past few years is therefore pretty clear and in my view any measures taken that puts barriers and/or charges in the way of residents will inevitably mean more residents disengaging from the process. Cllr Mahfouz raised the issue of finance and the need for him to find savings. There are three issues I believe that need mentioning. Firstly, the estimated income to be generated from the new charges (around £1 million) are in my view optimistic. The previous charging scheme (50p per bag) raised around £350,000 for the council and whilst this was some five years ago, it is difficult to see how this £1 million is achievable unless large assumptions have been made in terms of the number of residents who will simply switch to paying the £40 charge. Secondly, it is also not credible to argue that this will not have an affect upon the levels of flytipping around the borough. Some residents unfortunately will fly tip their garden waste to avoid charges and it will be the council who has to pick up the bill in terms of clearing this up. Thirdly, Cllr Mahfouz makes no comment in his statement about the effect on LATS charges. The proposal for garden waste charges as I understand it actually encompasses an overall reduction in the borough's recycling rate as a result of these changes. What will be the impact of this upon our landfill charges? As a whole this proposal may end up having savings being delivered in one place, but with higher costs coming out in another. Finally, for Cllr Mahfouz to suggest that it is either this option or a forced wheelie bin and fortnightly collection service is simply disingenous and I am afraid designed to detract attention away from an unpopular proposal by suggesting that instead we would have to have something else which he knows would be even more unpopular. My apologies for the length of this post and thanks for reading. |