Three types of recycling are currently collected in Preston

Households in Preston with a brown bin face a £30-a-year charge to have their garden waste collected from July.

Preston City Council has approved a 2 per cent rise in council tax along with the garden waste scheme.

Advertisements

Councillor Martyn Rawlinson, cabinet member for finance and resources, proposed the charge in January.

Food waste recycling will also cease, as the council has no statutory duty to provide the service.

At the time he said it would save £350,000 in the first year of operation, beginning in July this year, and rising to £519,000 in the second year.

The charge is due to be £25 if paid by direct debit and sits outside of the existing council tax bill.

Cllr Rawlinson said in January: “We have to make these decision because of the devastating cutbacks we are facing. This is a 50p per week charge for a service.”

In January when Blog Preston reported the brown bin ‘tax’ hundreds of readers voted it ‘shouldn’t happen’, with 81 per cent against the idea.

A motion from the Conservatives to privatise the waste collection service and seven other plans to cut costs was voted down by the Labour majority council.

The Lib Dem proposal to slash the number of councillors was also thrown out.

The city council is facing the reality of receiving no direct government funding by 2020 and finding a further £4m of savings. An emergency budget is due in October to outline how these savings are to be found.

David Cameron at BAE Systems in Warton on Thursday 25 February

Prime Minister David Cameron, who was visiting BAE Systems in Warton on Thursday lunchtime, said new business rate powers would help councils offset the reduction in government funding.

Homeowners in Preston have already seen a four per cent increase approved by Lancashire County Council in their share of the council tax bill. The additional two per cent increase above the two per cent threshold comes specially for social care services.

What do you think of the decision? Let us know your views in the comments below