Lib Dems call for garden waste rethink
Your Lib Dem councillors are demanding that Labour-run Haringey Council rethinks their new garden waste charges.
The annual cost (£75 for a wheelie bin and £55 for 60 bags) is too high for too many residents in Haringey and we have seen no evidence that the Labour Cabinet has fully explored all the options, including a reduced service that would still be free.
I have written to the Labour Cabinet Member and asked her to respond to 5 questions:
- Shouldn’t the council have made residents aware of the £55 a year bag option in their recent leaflet to residents?
- Shouldn’t a Labour-run council be offering a reduced cost service to pensioners and those on low incomes? (Watford and Ealing Councils offer a reduced rate for their garden waste service to people on low incomes.)
- Wouldn’t it be fairer for residents to be given the option to buy 20, 40 or 60 bags depending on how much garden waste they have and how big their gardens are?
- What would the savings be if the Council maintained free garden waste collections but reduced the service to 2 weekly? (Neighbouring boroughs Enfield and Barnet, have moved from a weekly to a 2 weekly FREE collection of garden waste service.)
- Why can’t residents continue using the hessian sacks? They are far more robust than the proposed compostable sacks which will not be practical for heavier and bulky garden waste.
The Lib Dems believe that this has been an ill-thought-through change to Haringey’s service to its residents. While we recognise that, due to central government cuts - savings need to be made, we believe there are better and fairer ways to make savings.
We will keep you updated on our garden waste campaign and the Labour Cabinet Member’s response.
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