Proposal: Sutton Council to Stop or Charge for Green Garden Waste Collections (Feedback Deadline – 3rd Oct)

From Tuesday 9th September 2014 you can give your views on the future of the green garden waste service (http://www.opinionsuite.com/sutton/chief-executives-group/greengardenwastecollection).

The council is also putting on three Have Your Say events where you can find out more about the options and give your views.

These proposals are due to unprecedented reductions to our funding, increasing costs of living and a growing demand for council services mean they have to save £40m from our annual budget over five years.

As a result, many of the services that we deliver will either need to change or stop in order to make the most of the money we have.

Proposal: Either stop or charge for green garden waste collections

The green garden waste collection is a discretionary service which the council has provided free until now. Residents can have two sacks of green garden waste collected between April and December, when most people are busy in their gardens.

The service costs £736,000 per year to operate, equivalent to the cost of running two libraries. This significant cost, combined with the fact that many people pay for a service they don’t use, means we are proposing to change it by either stopping it and providing alternatives or charging for it.

The choices

We understand that this service is valued by many of our residents so we want you to have your say about the two options described below.

a) To stop the fortnightly collections but help you with other ways of dealing with green garden waste, including providing you with a free compost bin (with a £5 delivery charge), and seeking to provide local community compost sites around the borough.

b) To charge for the service so that only those who want it pay for it. We would provide you with a 240 litre capacity wheeled bin (equivalent to three current sacks) but charge users £59 per annum* for collecting and disposing of your garden waste. Early birds will receive a £10 discount – see More Ways We Can Help.

The collections would continue to be fortnightly between April and December. We would need to sign up at least 10,000 customers for this service to be viable, otherwise it will stop.

*The charge of £59 is comparable to other London boroughs and lower than our neighbouring boroughs of Merton, Kingston and Richmond.

More ways we can help

If you choose to keep the green garden waste collection service and pay for it the council can help you in the following ways:

• Early bird discount – we propose an early bird discount of £10 for orders placed by 15 February each year. This would reduce your annual cost to £49.
• A smaller bin – residents can have the option of a smaller bin (140 litre) at a reduced rate of £54 (£44 with early bird discount).
• Properties currently without bins – residents who currently receive a sack collection for their recycling will be able to purchase 80 environmentally-friendly bio-degradable sacks per year, equivalent to the large 240 litre bin, for £59 (£49 with early bird discount).
• Very large gardens – customers can choose to have two 240 litre bins at a combined discounted rate of £94 (£84 with early bird discount).

Have your say

www.suttonsfuture.org take part in the green garden waste survey. The ggw survey will run until 3 October, 2014.

Come to one of our Have Your Say events to share your views with the council.