Households in Bradley Stoke which have decided not to subscribe to South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) new chargeable garden waste collection service will have their green bins emptied for the final time over the next fortnight.
The council’s opt-in £36 p.a. charge for emptying the green bin comes into force on 31st March, and with the bins being emptied on a fortnightly cycle, the next collection will be the last for those who decide not to pay.
For residents who require only occasional garden waste collection, ad hoc waste collection sacks should now be available to purchase from council libraries and ‘one stop’ shops. Sacks cost £2 each and users can book a collection date via the council’s website.
Further information on garden waste options, including online booking for the green waste service and ad hoc sack collection, can be found at: www.southglos.gov.uk/gardenwasteservice
Another service change being introduced from 31st March will see kerbside recycling extended to include mixed plastics, drinks cartons (also called Tetra Paks) and small electrical items.
The council is inviting members of the public to find out more about the changes being introduced at a roadshow being held at the Willow Brook Centre on Friday 28th March, between 11am and 6pm.
Council officers are expecting an additional 75,000 trips p.a. to be made to South Gloucestershire’s four Sort It! civic amenity sites once the charges for garden waste collection are in force.
Bradley Stoke residents should note that their nearest Sort It! centre, in Station Road, Little Stoke (BS34 6HP) will be closed for “essential maintenance” from Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th March. It is also closed every Wednesday, a change which was introduced in August 2011 to help pay for longer opening hours at two of the other Sort It! sites, in Mangotsfield and Thornbury.
Related link: Stoke Gifford Sort It! Centre (SGC)
Bradley Stoke Library has confirmed that the pay-as-you-go sacks for garden waste went on sale there yesterday (Monday 17th March).
Three sacks (at £2 each) are said to be the equivalent of one standard 75 litre green bin, so if you think you will generate more waste over the year than will fit in six bins, you will be better off paying the £36 bin charge.
Extra 75,000 trips to the amenities ……… all those who don’t opt in to the garden waste collection and take it themselves. Will the opt in costs work out for the council.
It would be good if the Little Stoke Sort It centre raised its height limit to 2.0m so I can use that rather than have to trawl over to Yate or up to Thornbury to dump stuff. No its not a commercial vehicle but it is taller than your average car. Why do a round trip of 15 miles when it could be 2 miles. Green? I don’t think so.
Just obtained some of the new bags to use instead of paying to keep a green bin. They are large brown paper bags. How on earth will they stand up to sharp branches, thorns, etc. Being paper how will they last in the weather with rain or snow. Not everyone has a sheltered place to store in. Yes could drive to the tip but the milage and petrol defeats being told to use cars less. Some people will have no choice but to pay to keep the bin. I’m totally against that. How long before the time comes for black bin charges. My desire for recycling is becoming less and less. I fear many people will just dump it by whatever means they decide, or will remove bushes, etc to save on future disposal. Just great for improving the environment all round.
Will these new bags have to be used when we go to the amenity site with our cuttings etc? Whats the rule for that?
In a 36 week period there would be 18 collections. If you pay the annual amount for your green bin it works out at £2 per collection.
A sack is one third the size of a bin (I believe) so you would need 54 of them (assuming your bin is full) to dispose of the same amount of garden waste which would cost £108.
You have to collect the sacks from the library and then arrange for them to be collected by phone or email
Why would you want to use a sack ???
Most people I would have thought would not produce enough garden waste to completely fill a green bin every fortnight, every single fortnight for the duration of a year, yet would still be required to pay the full yearly amount for keeping a bin. So for gardens producing less wasre the purchase of bags would work out cheaper. This is why unless you have the desire to fill up your car with rubbish, use time and petrol travelling to a tip, someone may decide to purchase the occasional bag.
John
Do the maths, even one sack 18 times per year will still cost the same as an annual fee for a bin but without the need to go to the library or arrange to have it collected
Of course you would be better off paying for a bin if you predicted a use of 18 and over bags a year. I, like most people am more than intelligent enough to work out the most cost effective method for disposal. We all produce differing amounts of rubbish. But end of the day green bin charge is wrong in my view, and the view of many people I know for different reasons.
How much will the council save with that measure? The bin men still have to work the same hours and will have to go all around Bradley Stoke anyway. In fact at first it can take them a bit longer because they will have to check street by street who is entitle and who is not. I am sure saving is minimum. In the other hand, a lot people on low income will have to pay now council tax (with just a small reduction) so the council will have a lot of extra money.
Question: Where is the money going? Because we are paying 2 or 3 times more council tax than in France or Spain and in exchange we have:
No light in streets after midnight (a lot of streets)
Black rubbish every two weeks (Spain almost daily and France every 2-3 days)
We have to pay green rubbish.
Road and streets in very poor state, nothing is done to maintain.
No local bus service (we are in hand of First rip off). In France or Spain some cities have their own bus services to go from one part to the other.Imagine a £1 all day ticket to go to any part of Bradley Stoke? How many people will use the bus instead of the car to go to the surgery, Tesco, take kids to school. A lot!
If you want to go to the Pool: PAY and it’s not cheap.
If you want to rent Tennis court at Jubille centre: PAY.
So: Where is the money going? What to they do?Do they really need to have so many staff at Jubillee Centre?
PAthetic…but again NOBODY says anything…it looks like it is fine and a privilege to pay £1400 council tax/year!
Our first cut of the year a couple of weeks ago filled the bin to just under half way. The next cut the grass is much shorter. It will need four cuts to fill our bin. So we only need to put our bin out once a month. We will be paying full price for 12 collections, not 26. We should be paying a lot less.
No information on what sort of sack you will need to use to go to the dump with it either.
What will happen to my pensioner father who has a very large garden and can fill the green bin just from one cut on part of his garden? Does he have to go buy sacks as well? In which case he is paying extra. Can he have two bins but only pay the one charge?
There’s a surprise!!!
Just looked on SGC website and if you need two bins you pay twice.
Never mind the fact they are there collecting one bin. Guess its the extra fuel to lift the second bin up on the wagon, extra man needed to do the second bin, extra walking from one bin to the one next it then to the lorry and back to throw the bin at the garage door and go off to the next address.
Why am I not surprised!!!
A useful reference on the SGC website: Garden Waste Service FAQ
I heard there are signs at the Sort It! centre saying “no plastic sacks” when depositing garden waste, i.e. you must empty plastic sacks into the skip. Not sure if bio-degradable sacks are allowed. Can anyone confirm?
Probably the simplest and also cheapest solution is to buy a garden incinerator – these can be had for under £20.
Cant find anywhere where it says if we will be given extra bags for the extra plastics they will collect. We certainly can’t get all ours in one bag now they are going to be collecting meat trays, fruit trays etc. Also what about something for tetra packs to go in.
Will the green box with these in, as well as glass and bottles, be sorted at the depot. If not it makes me wonder if they will be recycled at all!!!
@Kim: The hangar left on the bins a few weeks back says: “If you have extra recycling that doesn’t fit into your bags or boxes, use a sturdy box or bag and put it out next to the appropriate container.”
[That’s the white bag for the extra plastics and the green box for Tetra Paks.]
I hope this helps.