Green bin charge to go ahead despite Labour claims it will cause neighbour disputes

Trafford Council is pressing ahead with plans to charge residents to have garden waste collected from their green bin – despite claims from the Labour opposition that it could lead to “neighbour disputes”.

The Council want to charge householders an optional annual fee of £35 if they register online and £40 if they register by phone.

But a motion submitted by the Labour Group at this week’s full council meeting claimed there were a “number of practical issues with this scheme” including the “potential for neighbour disputes around the fall of leaves” and the “practicalities of the collection process”.

The council is however fully intending to go ahead with the charge, which is due to start  from June 5th.

When they first announced the fees the council said the move had been a “difficult decision” and that over 40% of councils across the country already charge for garden waste collection.

It said: “There is no requirement for the Council to provide a kerbside collection service for garden waste, but where it does, it can make a charge. Whilst the Council has for some time provided this service for free, it is not in a position to continue to do so and has taken the difficult decision to introduce a charge for those who wish to receive a collection service in the future.

Council chiefs are expecting around a third of homes in the borough – 20,000 – to choose to use the service, raising an extra £430,000. The Council has forecast an overall funding gap of £25.37m in 2017/18.