Lib Dems call green bin charge rollout ‘a farce’
Shropshire’s Liberal Democrats have called the rollout of green waste charges by Shropshire Council
a farce after delays to permit deliveries.
Cllr Rob Wilson (Lib Dem, Shadow Portfolio Holder for Transport, Climate and Environment,
Copthorne) said: “Shropshire’s Conservative administration insists that demand for their garden
waste tax is ‘extremely high’ and this explains the delay in delivering permit stickers. The current
take-up is far below what they have budgeted for. Both things can’t be true, it’s a farce.”
“They have said that the charge will bring in £4m, but so far are a long way short of that. It’s clear
that this policy has been rushed, and brought forward in a desperate act to help balance the books.
The budget is so stretched and in danger of not making the savings needed.”
“There are countless issues. The flat rate charge, the payments using the parking permit system, no
monthly charge option, postcodes not being picked up on the system. I raised all of these at Full
Council, but no explanations were given.
“The council needs to delay the non-collection of garden waste until these issues are addressed.”
Notes:
The flat rate charge discriminates against those on low incomes and benefits.
The MiPermit system for payment is cheap but has confused many – it has been viewed as a
scam by some.
Post code issue have led to people being unable to pay.
Customer Services were undermanned for the quantity of calls and many have had to give
up after 1 hour on the phone.
Delivery of the stickers in quantity appears not to have been planned for – even at the level
far below that hoped for.
Disposal of food waste is still a confusion for the public as this has now been discontinued.
Communication on this needs a lot of further work.