Weekly waste collections would cost Telford & Wrekin Council tax payers £1.5m
It has been revealed that reintroducing weekly non recyclable household rubbish collections in the Telford and Wrekin area would cost council tax payers at least £1.5 million.
The Council says that this would add around £22 a year to the average council tax bill in the borough. This follows the Government’s announcement of a £250 million fund from next April to 2015 to support councils wanting to reintroduce this type of collection.
Telford & Wrekin says that the costs of reintroducing weekly rubbish collections would see costs rise for the Council’s household waste service by at least £1.5 million with new refuse vehicles and extra staff required.
The Council also believes that such a changeover would significantly push up landfill tax charges it must pay. Experience shows that with weekly rubbish collections people recycle less, forcing the amount the Council sends to landfill up at a time when councils must pay record landfill tax charges, which will hit £80/tonne by 2014.
Cllr Shaun Davies, cabinet member for Environment, Co-Operative Council and Partnerships, said: “People are used to and understand the system we have which works well in Telford and Wrekin and thanks to everyone’s involvement we have seen our recycling rates jump from 30% in 2005 to 44% now.
“We have had comments from residents today saying how good the refuse service we run is, works really well and doesn't need changing.
“To reintroduce weekly collections would add at least £1.5m a year to the council tax bill, equivalent to £22 extra for the average band B homes’ council tax bill at a time of unprecedented cuts in Government grant and when this Council must find £40m savings by 2015.
“If the Government will cover this cost, then it’s something we could look at. Otherwise this would simply be an extra burden on the council tax payers.
“The figures simply don’t stack up - £250 million divided among around more than 300 councils over five years, in our case would cover only a small fraction of the extra cost to provide this service and while recycling rates would be likely to fall.”
