In response to the recent letters regarding garden waste collections, some facts first.
Councils are required to offer a domestic garden waste collection, but are permitted to make a charge for doing so.
When introduced, this requirement was very much about providing residents with a way of disposing of a particular type of domestic waste and not about recycling.
South Holland District Council provides this service via the sale of purple bags, to be put out with the normal waste collection. However, the charge made for these bags, especially where they were posted /delivered to the resident, in no way reflected the cost, at today’s prices. Provision was therefore being subsidised by other taxpayers.
The charge now set for a minimum quantity is considered comparable to other charges for services one might receive in the commercial world.
However, it has been accepted that some residents might not need 10 bags at a time, so we are reviewing that figure, but this is unlikely to affect the postage / delivery charge.
This is by no means a money making scheme. Given the low and variable demand, combined with the overheads and administration involved, it is likely to be cost neutral at best.
It is also worth remembering that home composting and the household waste recycling centre can be used to dispose of garden waste free of charge.
Where our paid for garden waste collection service is in operation, we are seeking to promote this policy by only providing paper sacks in place of purple bags and collecting these fortnightly, along with the scheduled garden waste collection service. Those wishing to use this ad hoc approach to the disposal of their garden waste, need to register using our online system.
The need to find ways of reducing the cost of providing our services has meant that we’ve had to make greater use of those technologies that reduce paperwork and administration.
I do apologise to those residents who have encountered some problems with the changes made to the system and accept that the use of an online system for booking and paying has presented a challenge for some of our older residents. We are looking to see if there is a way to address this.
Cllr Roger Gambba-Jones
Portfolio Holder Environmental Service South Holland District Council
