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£40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021
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TOPIC: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021

£40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 8 months ago #1

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Published Barrhead News On Line

News

5th July

Charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire begins today

By Pippa Smith Reporter

CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today.

All households taking part in the voluntary scheme will need to pay an annual fee of £40.

Plans for the new charge, set to raise £800,000 per year for cash-strapped East Renfrewshire Council, were included in this year’s budget, which was approved in March.

A number of residents have criticised the fee, insisting the collection of garden waste should be included in their council tax bills.

A council spokesperson said: “Our new garden waste scheme begins today.

“You should only place garden waste in your brown bin if you have purchased a permit. Thanks to the over 15,000 households who have signed up.

“If you place garden waste in your brown bin and haven't signed up, it won’t be emptied.

Our staff will place a yellow sticker on your brown bin explaining why and directing you to our website, where you can purchase a permit or arrange a one-off collection.”

For more information, visit here.

www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/garden-waste

Re: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 8 months ago #2

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9/7/2021

Cllr David MacDonald has posted on Facebook -

Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people.
15 hrs ·

Just three days after the period of chargeable garden waste collection coming in fly tipping of garden waste has begun as many expected it would.

Black bags of grass are untraceable.

This was an ill thought out policy to begin with.

If you spot bags of garden waste dumped anywhere in East Renfrewshire please forward me the pictures and the location and I'll forward to the cleansing department to have it collected.

ERC created this problem. As the old saying goes....

"You made your bed now lie in it."


Subsequent Comments -

- Maybe if there hadn’t been such an outcry when ERC tried the radical idea of charging for parking (like just about every other council), then they’d still be able to afford this. 2h


- It's the most poorly thought out policy I think I've ever seen.

The fact that we're still to use our brown bins for food waste, and out this bin out each week, effectively empty, to get collected if we haven't paid. Only for the lads on the bin trucks to now turn into the Bin Police. 🙄

All this extra work for essentially the same service just so the council can generate a few more quid off us whilst simultaneously pissing us off.15h


- ERC will just ignore it as they do the town centres full of rubbish and weeds and will continue to blame covid and budget cuts for why they cannot deliver the basics…
13h

- There’s no way all of that would fit in their grey bin along with everything else. The new bin system hasn’t changed the amount of waste, it just separates it at source.

When I cut my grass/hedge I had to compost what I could and take the rest to the dump. Which was full of people doing the same thing.

If you want to blame someone for this, it’s who decides what duties councils have to carry out. Providing services they don’t have to when money is tight is a waste of money, particularly one which benefits people with large gardens who are more likely to be able to afford it.

I’d rather pay more tax/council tax to have better services overall, but not everyone can afford that. The whole system needs reformed.
12h · Edited

Re: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 8 months ago #3

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Further comments on Cllr MacDonald's facebook page


- Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people.
Author
Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people. ...... Put it in their wheelie bin for general waste which was collected once a week not once every 3 weeks. Not that that should happen again but the 4 bin system was then introduced and people were requested to separate their waste, which they do while the council simultaneously stripped back the general waste service to encourage/force people to separate their recyclables. Now they introduce a charge which will start new problems. A sharp increase in dumped garden waste in bags. All of the brown bins will be being collected regardless of if they have a sticker or not as that is where food waste goes. The service will slow down because now the bin collectors will be taking additional time to look in everybody's bins to look to the bottom of each bin beyond food bags to make sure no grass is in the bin. All of this additional time will likely slow down the service to the point where many bins won't be reached on their respective collection days. Not to mention the fact that many will put their garden waste into general waste and valuable green waste will end up in landfill rather than composting properly along with food waste creating biogas. It flies in the face of keeping driving towards creating increased renewable energy. On top of all of that, as ....... has mentioned, it pisses people off. It's a complete shambles on every front IMO.
1d

- Well what did they expect
We knew some would do this
1d

- Totally agree with you
1d

- The grass would decompose..why dump it in bags ffs..good nutrients n that
1d

- I went to the trouble of paying my £40 on the 16th June and have not yet received my bin sticker. Emailed the council about the lack of appearance of the sticker and have still not heard anything despite being advised someone would be in touch with me in approx 12 hours or so(we’re well past that now). Bin collection is tomorrow so I wait to see what will happen.
1d

- Facebook message them. I paid on the 3rd of June, had no communication after payment whatsoever but the money was taken from my account. Contacted them via FB messenger last week and they replied almost immediately. Like you, I’m waiting to see what tomorrow brings as i still haven’t received my permit.
1d

Re: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 8 months ago #4

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14/7/2021

Further post from Cllr MacDonald on his facebook page -

Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people.
Yesterday at 10:53 ·

Well surprise surprise!

Many people who have paid for their brown bin permit still have not had their brown bin emptied due to them not receiving their permit on time despite being assured by ERC they would still have it collected.

Other people who have chosen not to opt in still haven't had their food waste collected as they have been told it is "practically empty".

If food waste is in the bin it must be emptied each week and it is not for ERC to decide when it is collected. There are issues, especially in a warm summer to do with maggots, smell and attraction of vermin. I will be writing to ERC to gain assurances the food waste will be collected each week regardless of how full the bin is.

On my rounds last week I spoke to a refuse collector who had been given a clipboard and list of addresses of non-permit payers and sent ahead of the truck to open everybody's brown bin to check it and to put a yellow sticker on every bin that had garden waste in it but didn't have a permit. Each of the rounds in East Ren has a collector going ahead of the truck. How much is that costing in additional work hours? He told me that none of his colleagues think this is a good idea that is workable and it has been forced from above with little to no consultation. He said the routes have slowed down and many collections are skipped and recollections are taking place due to the backup.

This is a total shambles.

If you haven't had your brown bin collected or haven't received your permit then please contact :

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

and tie me into the email

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Email your other Cllrs and ask them if they are for or against the new chargeable garden waste scheme.

You will be surprised in their response.

Get them on record.

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Re: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 8 months ago #5

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25/7/2021

Published Barrhead News On Line -

News

1 hr ago

'Rubbish' bin permit makes residents fed up over failure

By Norman Silvester Reporter

An East Renfrewshire man has branded the council’s controversial new brown bin collection policy as “rubbish”.

Peter Scott, 78, said staff refused to empty his garden waste, even though he bought the required £40 permit.

The new charge was introduced by East Renfrewshire Council this month, with residents having to cough up if they want their green refuse to be removed.

Anyone who doesn’t have a permit attached to their brown bin can’t have it emptied.

The council said there had been a “technical issue” over the permits.

Mr Scott said he waited almost six weeks to receive his permit through the post.

He applied and paid for the document on June 11 but it didn’t arrive until July 19.

In the meantime, the part-time law lecturer had to photocopy the online receipt and attach it to his bin.

Despite this, refuse staff failed to empty the container on July 13, which is his normal collection day.

They attached a yellow sticker to the bin, telling him to contact the council to pay for an uplift.

Mr Scott told the Barrhead News: “Anytime I phoned the council about my permit, I was told that all the lines were busy and to please call back. It was maddening.

“I applied for a permit online on June 11 but it did not arrive until Monday of this week

“I taped a copy of the payment receipt to the bin last week, explaining the position, but it wasn’t emptied. Any emails I sent were just ignored.”

Mr Scott said he was told by council staff that the local authority is having to put on special collections for householders who haven’t had their permit through the post.

They have also had to hire two people to process the applications manually.

“To me, the system has failed,” said Mr Scott, of Newton Mearns. “I keep a nice garden and live in a nice area and we need regular garden refuse collections to keep it that way.

“There is also a communal grassy area I share with other owners which generates more green waste. Our brown bin is always full, so we need our weekly uplifts.

“This new permit system appears to be costing East Renfrewshire Council more money than it’s saving.”

In the past, brown bin collections had been free of charge but council chiefs have said money raised through the new charge will help to protect frontline services, such as street cleaning.

Councils have a statutory duty to collect household rubbish but this does not include garden waste.

Residents who do not need their brown bin emptied are still be able to use it for food waste.

The £40 permit includes collection of Christmas trees.

An East Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “There was a technical issue which affected the processing of a number of garden waste permits. The issue has since been resolved and we are working to ensure anyone affected receives their permit.

“If any resident’s brown bin collection is impacted by this, it can be reported as missed and our teams will return to empty the bin.

“Anyone who has been waiting more than 10 working days for their permit can email the team direct at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

.”

Re: £40 - CONTROVERSIAL charges for garden waste collection in East Renfrewshire were introduced today 5 July 2021 2 years, 5 months ago #6

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EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL
CABINET
21 October 2021
Report by Head of Accountancy (Chief Financial Officer)
ESTIMATED REVENUE BUDGET OUT-TURN 2021/22

BUDGET MONITORING REPORTS
PERIOD 5
As at 31 August 2021

ii) Environment
...... The main movements from the last reported Period 3 outturn are
due to a shortfall in the garden waste scheme..........

ENVIRONMENT – NON SUPPORT
PROBABLE OUTTURN FORECAST AS AT 31st AUGUST 2021 - £ 946,100 OVERSPEND

Cleansing (£191,300 Overspend)
An under-recovery in the newly introduced garden waste permit income (£130K) is projected.................


+++++
£40 - for how long? Price increase on the cards?
+++++
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