Yahoo News North Tyneside Council approves £30 garden waste collection charge - see how it compares to others in North East
Council bosses have approved an annual fee for garden waste collections in North Tyneside.
North Tyneside Council’s cabinet has signed off a new yearly £30 collection fee for brown bins. The charge was included in the council’s budget for this year in an attempt, among other measures, to plug a £19m deficit.
The local authority will now send out letters to residents with a deadline of November for households to subscribe to the new collections. According to council documents, around £660,000 would be generated from the new fee, across a predicted 22,000 households that will take up the new terms.
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The new payment must be made in full by November 30, 2024 for the collections beginning in March 2025. Residents have the choice to ‘opt-in’ for the newly charged garden waste service.
The Elected Mayor of North Tyneside, Dame Norma Redfearn DBE, said: “Nobody comes in as a councillor, cabinet member, or Mayor to make cuts. You come into this to make life better for people.
“But, I am going to have to say this, this government actually made this council, and other councils, over £140m worse off. It's just common sense that when you remove that amount of money you can’t do everything you want to do.
“It is not one of the things I am dashing to do because it is a great thing to do, it is not. We have just had a conversation about how important it is that we keep our elderly and young people looked after and sometimes you have to make tough choices.
“It is up to residents if they wish to have their bin and we will carry that on.”
The local authority had previously attempted to introduce a £20 collection fee for brown bins back in 2013. The council launched a pilot scheme in 2012 but was scrapped after 30,000 households declined to pay. North Tyneside Council refunded over 19,000 who had paid for the collection by January 2013.
The new charge can be spread between family, neighbours, and friends. Residents will also remain able to deposit garden waste for free at the Household Waste and Recycling Centre on Wallsend Road, North Shields.
The new collection fee in North Tyneside is the lowest across the seven North East local authorities. The charges by each individual council are:
Northumberland County Council - £54
Newcastle City Council - £43
Durham County Council - £38
Gateshead Council - £36
Sunderland City Council - £37.50
South Tyneside Council - £35.35
North Tyneside Council - £30
