Public 'let down' by garden waste charge, says Tory

The public is "being let down" by the introduction of a £50 charge to have garden waste collected, a councillor says.

Labour-run Ipswich Borough Council has announced it will introduce the annual fee to have household brown bins emptied fortnightly - bringing it into line with other districts in Suffolk and something it previously said would help balance its budget.

While some residents understand this others have shared concerns it could lead to an increase in fly-tipping.

The Conservative leader of the opposition at the town hall, Ian Fisher, said he felt the council saw council taxpayers as having "deep pockets".

"Just in the past couple of weeks they have announced a 3% rise in council tax, increased parking charges and now a charge to have your brown bin collected," he told the BBC.

"We all know finances are tough, but it really does not have to be like this."

He said he believed Labour had "failed to find alternative income streams" and the public would pay the price.

"I would not be so angry about the new brown bin charge if they were being run on a cost-neutral basis, but they aren't. The council stands to make huge profits on this."

The council said it expected to potentially make £1.6m over the next four years through the service, but figures ultimately depend on the numbers of residents that sign up.

Fisher added he feared there could be a "detrimental effect" on the amount of garden waste being placed into black general waste bins that could be costly to deal with.

He also argued other councils were "rural in nature" with bin lorries travelling many more miles per year.

"It is far cheaper to operate this service in an urban setting such as Ipswich. Once again the public is being let down," he added.

Residents have had mixed thoughts on the new charge.

Some said they felt "lucky" that they had not been charged up until now.

"Everywhere else around Ipswich pays, so why do Ipswich residents whine about it?" said Richard Garrard on social media.

"The implementation of the charge [in other districts] brought the same type of whiners out saying the same comments; it really has made zero difference to the usage."

Some argued the service had never been free and the charge instead previously had come from their council tax.

Some argued on the other hand it made sense to have the separate charge.

"If you don't have a garden you don't need to pay the potential alternative of a bigger increase in council tax," Sue Read said.

Concerns were also raised that the move would lead to an increase in waste being dumped illegally.

Ipswich is the cheapest for garden waste, alongside West Suffolk Council that similarly charges £50 a year.

East Suffolk Council charges £52.50 while Mid Suffolk District Council charges £62.

Babergh District Council in the south of the county charges the highest at £65.

Neil MacDonald, leader of Ipswich Borough Council, said it had "delayed" the change of policy for as long as possible.

"We are the last council locally to implement these charges. We are keeping the charges as low as we can for our residents and by implementing these charges we are ensuring that this council is in a financially sustainable position for the future, protecting other services which our residents rely on."

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