Now residents will pay for garden waste removal

Rother say it will mean a fairer deal for households that don’t generate garden waste.

On Monday the district council’s Cabinet agreed that from April 2014 any householder wishing to make use of green bin collections should be asked to pay an annual fee of £25 on top of their council tax.

Council leader Carl Maynard said the arrangement would be part of part of the council’s joint waste contract. He said: “Residents will receive several major benefits through a charged-for green waste service.

“The system is certainly fairer. Not everyone uses green waste collections, such as those without gardens, yet currently all residents meet the cost through their council tax. This would no longer be the case, with only those who use the service paying.”

Cllr Maynard added: “The new service will enable us to improve the amount of recycling collected and enable us to take a much wider range of materials, which is a huge positive for the district.

“We also have to take into account Rother’s financial position, and in the face of almost £2 million of cuts from central government, there is a need for income generation to protect our many other services which the public expect us to provide.”

Cllr Maynard noted that while other councils in the joint waste partnership may not be charging directly for garden waste, the council tax for their residents will be correspondingly higher, so no partner council would be providing the service for free.

Rother covers an area of 200 square miles and has a resident population of almost 89,000.