Stockport residents say they ‘won’t pay’ planned £59 charge for bin collections
Residents in Stockport say they would refuse to pay a £59 charge for green bin garden waste collections.
The council is drawing up plans to introduce the yearly fee as part of cost-cutting measures to balance the books.
If approved, residents would have to opt in to pay £59 a year for a weekly collection for garden waste, discounted to £39 for those in receipt of council tax support.
Weekly food-only collections in green bins would remain free under the plans, while blue bin collections could change to once every four weeks rather than fortnightly as they are now.
Residents can also buy a compost bin at a 'discounted rate' to remove their garden waste themselves to avoid the collection charge.
The council hopes the plans will help it save £2m as it faces a £25m deficit which needs to be filled for the 2025/26 financial year.
A report shared with the council's cabinet leadership team in September revealed that budget problems are set to get worse in future, with savings of more than £60m needed in 2027/28.
Stockport council deputy leader Mark Roberts said the town hall is facing "unprecedented financial challenges" and that it "must make tough decisions" to balance the books.
But residents are not happy with the potential charge for bin collections – and fear it could lead to garden waste ending up on the streets and pile financial pressure on struggling families.
Clare Lodge, 51, said: "I know it's hard for the council, but I think this is outrageous. It would lead to more fly tipping and people dumping things on the street.
"I wouldn't pay the charge, I'd just put things in my black bin. Paper and cardboard in blue bins I would take to the tip.
"I think people will struggle with the blue bin changes, at Christmas we have all the Amazon deliveries and other things."
Margaret Jennings, 79, added: "I would not have thought it's the right time to do this, the council wants to save more money but a lot of people would struggle to pay that charge.
"A lot of people won't pay it, they'll throw things elsewhere instead. I do worry about that."
Some opposition councillors have also voiced concerns about the plans.
The Labour group described the proposal as a "bin tax" forced on residents, while Conservative councillor Peter Crossen said the fee is "unaffordable" for many people.
One councillor told the LDRS that the council normally receives around 500 responses to its public consultations – but has had nearly 9000 for the consultation on bin collection charges.
And in a council meeting this week Cllr Crossen also said that 75 percent of respondents to the consultation were against the town hall's plan to bring in the charge.
A number of councils around the country currently charge for garden waste collection.
But the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands Stockport's proposed fee would make it the highest charge in the region for garden waste.
Cllr Roberts said the borough is struggling to handle rising costs of providing key services.
In November, he told councillors that savings are essential to protect funding for services such as social care, libraries, and parks.
More than 75 percent of Stockport council's budget is spent on services for vulnerable children and adults, and there are wider plans to change how social care is provided in the borough – another measure to help set a balanced budget.
But the deputy leader said introducing new charges for residents is "never taken lightly."
"We fully understand the impact on residents, and introducing any new charging proposals is always taken with great reluctance," he told the LDRS.
"But the reality is that this charge would allow us to reduce the savings we need to make across the council so we can protect vital frontline services like our libraries, pools, parks and adults and children's social care.
"This proposal will mean that we can maintain the current service we offer on garden waste while continuing to collect food waste weekly, for everyone free of charge."
John Mason, 64, did not have any sympathy for the council's position.
He said: "It's ridiculous, we pay enough for services already with our council tax.
"People will just chuck things on the street. There are enough people struggling already who can't afford to even heat their homes."
Another resident, Colin Gibbons, added that the fee is too high.
The 71-year-old said: "It's not affordable, people are really struggling at the moment and prices do not go down, it will only go up again in future. It's a vicious circle.
"People are on the limit of what they can afford. Blue bins used to be once a week but now we are lucky to get it changed every two weeks. It will cause problems for people."
Council tax went up by five percent in Stockport last year and could yet face another hike in February.
While garden waste collections are currently provided for free in the borough, this is not required by law and is thought to be becoming increasingly difficult for many town halls in the face of huge budget pressures.
Stockport council's proposals to charge for garden waste collections are set to be discussed by its own scrutiny panels in the next few weeks before being presented at the budget meeting on February 27 at Stockport town hall.
Discussions between Stockport's political groups will take place before the budget vote – with the Lib Dems running the council needing to gather support to push through its plans.
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