THE controversial introduction of charges for garden waste collections in Flintshire has generated more than £900,000 for the local authority.

The figures have been revealed in a report set to be considered by politicians next week to review the £30 charge for brown bins.

The expected income was around £800,000 following payments being put in place in April despite a backlash from residents.

However, the actual amount achieved was £166,000 above the target.

The authority's cabinet member for streetscene and countryside, Cllr Carolyn Thomas, said the additional money would allow it to invest in new technology.

She said: “The actual take up marginally exceeded our financial target which means that we can potentially look into technology based systems which offer a more efficient method of registering a bin to a property.

"This will speed up the management and payment process and will remove the need to issue stickers each year.

"We are recommending that options for this are considered and introduced in time for the 2020 season."

Flintshire Council’s environment scrutiny committee is set to debate the impact of the changes at a meeting at County Hall in Mold on Tuesday, December 11.

Councillors will be asked to support keeping the cost at £30 per bin for 2019.

In the first year of the subscription process, 33,871 permits were sold which means more than 40 per cent of residents have subscribed for at least one bin to be collected.

The authority was considering offering a discount for people on benefits, but decided it would not be appropriate.

Cllr Thomas said: "It would be difficult to provide such a discount without passing additional costs onto other non-eligible residents and the management of such a system would be costly and time-consuming in carrying out checks and monitoring any changes in circumstances.

"A third of those who bought into the service are part of the Council Tax Relief Scheme."

The possibility of collecting bins during winter months was also examined as the current service does not operate between December and February.

However, the council said it had only received a small number of requests for a full year service.

Cllr Thomas added: "There has been limited demand for the service between December and February, and, although we did receive a small number of requests for a full year service, the majority of residents have accepted the service as provided.

"All household recycling centres receive garden waste throughout the year.

"It also leaves capacity to collect extra recycling which accumulates over the Christmas period which is one of our busiest times of the year."