Unfair to pay £30 'garden tax' levy

As an elected Burnley Councillor for Whittlefield with Ightenhill, I feel I need to respond to the proposed £30 levy on the collection of garden waste from April 2017.
98% of the households in my area have a garden waste bin98% of the households in my area have a garden waste bin
98% of the households in my area have a garden waste bin

98% of the households in my area have a garden waste bin. The Council was told when we changed the provider for refuse collection that we were getting a better deal and saving money. As far as I know, we have not renegotiated the waste contract since then, so obviously the green waste collection has been budgeted.

To apply a charge now (a garden tax) is discriminating against people with garden waste bins. If memory serves me right, when Councillor Cooper became Leader of the Council (though she isn’t even a councillor now) we were told that Labour would be a fair party and a listening party.

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Applying this garden waste bin charge to everyone in Burnley when it has already been costed in is not spreading the cost of trying to raise additional monies after the ongoing cuts. If it is just about bringing extra money into the Council, surely it should be spread across the town so that everybody pays and not just the people who have garden waste.

Councillor Tom Porter

Liberal Democrat

Elected Member for

Whittlefield with Ightenhill