Councillors are expected to call in a controversial decision by Cheshire East Council to introduce charges for new wheelie bins, writes Stephen Topping.
From next month, residents will need to pay Cheshire East Council £30 for a new 240-litre bin, or £25 for a smaller 140-litre bin.
But the move comes after CEC’s public consultation on the matter found just 34% of 1,895 respondents agreed with the plans to charge – while scrutiny committee members called on the council to scrap the plans at a meeting in June.
Cllr Nick Mannion, Labour member for Macclesfield West and Ivy, said Labour is looking to call the decision in for further scrutiny – and suggested that the borough’s more vulnerable residents will be hit hardest by the policy.
He said: “This decision completely ignores what the strong recommendation of the scrutiny committee was.
“It will have a bigger impact on those who live in terraced streets, that are more at risk of losing their bins.
“Also, if you have got a family and you have the choice to pay for a wheelie bin or dinner, you know which is going to be missed out – so in turn it will increase fly-tipping and that will cost the council.”
CEC says a 25% concessionary rate will apply to residents on qualifying benefits, while bins damaged during waste collection will be replaced for free.
The council will also replace lost or stolen bins for free in the first instance – but the charge will come into effect if the bin disappears again within three years.
The £30 charge for a black residual waste bin is £5 less than proposed at the time CEC’s environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee slammed the policy in June.
At that meeting, Cllr Sarah Pochin, Conservative member for Willaston and Rope, called on CEC to scrap the proposal and instead look at the reasons why bins go missing and how the issue could be resolved.
She said: “The committee voted in support of the idea that our CEC taxpayers are entitled to a wheelie bin free of charge.
“Yet again the views of a scrutiny committee seem to have been ignored.”
New bins will be marked to identify the property they belong to, and the council is advising residents to make sure their existing bins are marked up with their address to deter bin thieves.
Cllr Glen Williams, CEC deputy cabinet member for environment, insists the charge is necessary.
“The council spent £300,000 on supplying bins and a further £64,000 for the delivery and administration of bins in 2017-18,” he said.
“With an ongoing reduced budget position and in order to continue to provide this service across the borough, it is necessary to start charging for the service to provide and deliver bins to properties.
“As has been the case in other local authority areas, our new bin charging policy will also have the added benefit of encouraging residents to take greater responsibility for their bins, as well as help to reduce demand for replacements in the future.”
This idea to charge residents twice is blatant fraud, the residents pay for the bins and refuse service via their council tax and are contractually entitled to a bin , it is therefore illegal to charge them again should their bin get nicked, the council could however catch the bin thief and charge THEM. That would be “legal”
This idea to charge residents twice is blatant fraud, the residents pay for the bins and refuse service via their council tax and are contractually entitled to a bin , it is therefore illegal to charge them again should their bin get nicked, the council could however catch the bin thief and charge THEM. That would be “legal”
Yes mark your bins on the inside, not massive numbers daubed on the outside, ( usually with added paint runs) looks appalling you don’t need to spot your bin from space!!