Conservative campaigners have protested outside the Stoke Gifford Sort It! centre, claiming that South Gloucestershire Council’s new charge for the collection of garden waste, which comes into effect today, will lead to “traffic chaos” around local recycling centres.
With an opt-in charge of £36 p.a. for the green bin garden waste collection service now in force, council officers are expecting an additional 75,000 trips p.a. to be made to the district’s civic amenity sites by residents who choose not to pay the fee, dubbed a “bin tax” by opponents.
Cllr Ian Adams (Siston and Warmley), the Conservative Lead Member on the council’s Communities Committee said:
“Feelings are already running very high locally about the existing traffic nightmare in and around the council’s Sort It centres, including at Stoke Gifford which simply cannot cope with the demand that is placed on it.”
“As a result, traffic backs up onto the main road, which delays people wanting to use the facility and means that nearby residents wanting to access their homes and go about their daily lives have to pull out into oncoming traffic in order to drive around queuing recyclers.”
“Lives are already being put at risk and it’s only a matter of time before there’s a serious accident, which is why we need to raise awareness.”
Labour councillors have accused the Tories of conducting a smear campaign against them by representing the new charge as “Labour’s bin tax”, a claim they say is untrue as only three out of the 13 councillors on the committee which made the decision introduce it are Labour.
For its part, Labour is pinning the blame for the unpopular charge on the government, which it says is forcing the council to find millions of pounds worth of savings.
The Liberal Democrats, who also voted to introduce the charge, say that if it had not been introduced, government cutbacks would have put libraries at risk of closure.
Photo: Conservative campaigners protest about the bin tax outside Stoke Gifford Sort It! centre in Station Road, Little Stoke.
Has Ian Adams, all the way from Siston actually visited the site in Station Rd, he says
“As a result, traffic backs up onto the main road, which delays people wanting to use the facility and means that nearby residents wanting to access their homes and go about their daily lives have to pull out into oncoming traffic in order to drive around queuing recyclers.”
but there are no residential homes within a good half mile of the site, that’s probably why it was put there in the firsat place!
I think the real problem is going to be people will just put garden waste back in their black bins!
How did people get rid of garden waste before not in their black bins no they took it to a tip or compost bin in their gardens
Compost bins. When people used to grow things in the garden other than grass.
No you’re wrong there Happy, mine always went into the black bin, that’s the simple reason they brought in green bins in the first place, to stop all garden waste going to landfill, even though it is actually the best thing to put in landfill seeing as it’s organic! What am I meant to do with all this compost I’ll be producing, if I compost for the next 5 years then maybe my garden will be 5 foot higher!!
Use it for the gardens
Grow some green beans. I’m told green beans enjoy a bit of compost.
People are far to lazy
I wish I had a garden =(
Quite ridiculous charging for this essential uplift. Between all the recycling being done by the residents it’s they who should charge the council for their time and effort rather than be once again imposed upon to have to pay for the privilege of having garden waste removed which in effect can be used by the council planners for areas of conservation such as plots and landfill as already suggested…people need to take back their power and demand another way.
One green bin out for 17 houses this morning in our road. Those black wheelies are going to be heavy next week!
You could always donate the green waste to a local green ditch or the local ‘nature reserve’. It’s organic and biodegradable after all. Wildlife would love a bit of pre-compost material added to their whereabouts no doubt.