READERS have spoken out resoundingly against proposals to pay for garden waste collections.

Flintshire Council has announced proposals to introduce a £30 charge to remove garden waste due to funding cuts.

Residents took to the Leader website in droves within hours of the poll going online yesterday to give their verdict on the proposal.

Flintshire Council estimates it could bring in £958,000 if 27,600 (40 per cent) of county households sign up to the revised tariff collection scheme.

Of that total, £828,800 would be made by implementing the annual £30 charge with the remainder generated through operational cost savings.

As of 4.30pm yesterday 554 people (88 per cent) were against the collection fee, with just 75 individuals (12 per cent) in favour.

Readers have also voiced their views on the Leader’s Facebook page. 

Tracy Foster said: “You would think they would have caught on by now with foodbanks popping up and people having sanctions placed on them.

“Working people are being told they aren’t eligible for Universal Credit.

“People cannot afford to heat their homes, let alone pay to have garden waste removed.”

Stephanie Clark added: “I pay £1,680 a year already and it’s a challenge to get them to take the general waste bin once a month.

“It’s often ‘missed’ and we are left to do skip runs for the rest of the month.”

An emphatic Kelly Diane Gregson posted: “I'll just throw it in a bag and throw it in the domestic bin. All the space in saving by recycling can be used up by garden waste instead.”

Emma Gilmore said: “Think about it this way: if they charge £30 per house in Flintshire and every house had to pay that £30 a year and there are 20,000 houses, they will be getting £600,000 a year for a bloody bin to be emptied.

“They are taking the biscuit, and correct me if I'm wrong but is council tax for all of this? I won’t be paying as my bin only ever needs emptying once, maybe twice a year.

“[They’re] quick enough to charge people for a bin but not quick enough to do repairs.

Mike Samuels predicted any extra revenue raised by charge would be eroded by the cost of dealing with fly-tipping.

Terri Collins added: “Why do we pay council tax?  I don’t get owt back.

“I even had to take a trip to collect recycling bags after binmen chucked them away.”

Nic Roberts added: “Looks like my compost heap is going to get bigger next year – great for worms.”

l See Letters – page 13.