Residents are being urged to have their say on Trafford council’s proposal to introduce charges for garden waste collections in a bid to help cut its revenue gap. The council is bringing in a subscription as part of efforts to bridge a £25m funding gap in its budget for 2025/26.
Town hall bosses say the local authority has suffered more than £300m in revenue cuts over the last 15 years while experiencing an increase in people needing essential services. A consultation has now been launched by the council, asking residents for their views. Coun Stephen Adshead, executive member for highways, environmental and traded services, said: “A charge to collect garden waste is something more than three quarters of councils now do.
“We’ve managed to hold off bringing back a subscription for several years now but our finances are such that it’s now something we are having to bring in. Please give us your opinion – we will take all comments into account.” The charge will be £45 for people who pay online. There will be an additional £5 for people who pay by other means.
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Coun Adshead said: “Applying online helps to save on administration costs. If we can keep our costs low, we can keep the charge as low as possible. We believe our charge is lower than the average garden waste collection charge.” Garden waste will continue to be collected every week for those who opt into the service.
He added: “It’s important to note that we are only introducing a charge for garden waste collection. We will not – and cannot by law – introduce charges for any other of our bin collections. We will also continue to have a free weekly collection of food waste.”
For more details about the proposals, visit www.trafford.gov.uk/gardenwaste. To have your say on the proposals, visit here.
