Locals set to be charged £41.50 a year for garden waste collections.....

Garden waste collection charges set to be introduced as part of the councils bid to plug a nine million pound budget deficit, despite the majority of locals against the proposals....

Thursday 8th December 2022 06:23am

Plans for Hartlepool Borough Council to introduce Garden Waste collection charges looks now set to be well under way after documents Hartlepool Matters has seen shows the councils looking to introduce the annual charge in line with that of other local councils....

Details of the proposed Garden Waste charge as it is on the councils F&P agenda for next week...

The documents which go before the councils Finance & Policy Committee next week come part of a raft of measures the councils desperately put together in order to stave off the looming threat of section 114 bankruptcy which continues to overshadow the councils day to day running....

The proposals are to introduce a charge of £41.50 annually for homes with a garden who wish to have their garden waste taken away by the local council.

Some local councils across the country have adopted a similar scheme, with the council claiming others are following suit....

The council claims that around 250 local authorities around the country have introduced a similar scheme charging residents between £32.00 & £43.00 per year, with council finance chiefs claiming that even those authorities who previously shunned such charges being introduced are now rethinking their positions on the issue as local councils across the country look to plug significant budget deficits caused by rising interest rates & inflation.

Proposals to introduce such a scheme in Hartlepool previously come up against significant public backlash, with many saying the plans to charge for such waste collection should be included as part of a residents council tax & shouldn't be commissioned out as a separate chargeable service.

However, the council's long been in support of the proposals, with the measures likely to generate significant income to the local council as HBC races to avoid bankruptcy....