Residents face a price hike of more than 50 per cent for garden waste collections, while some other recycling charges are also increasing or being introduced in Bristol City Council’s proposed annual budget. Annual subscriptions for the garden bin service will rise from £32 to £50 a year, £3 less for direct debit payments, and from £14 to £24 for those on benefits, if the plans go ahead.
The authority expects to receive an extra £144,000 a year from the increases, based on its assumption that the higher fees will put off nearly 3,000 of the current 28,000 subscribers. It also plans to introduce a collection charge of up to £5 for Christmas trees, although this will be free to residents signed up to garden waste collections, from which it expects to earn £3,000 annually.
Each replacement black bin and garden waste bin would cost householders £28, or half that for benefits recipients, while a £2.50 fee will be introduced to deliver each recycling container, with both measures raising an extra £100,000. The city council also wants to charge £25 per sofa and £50 for a three-piece suite to cover the cost of new Environment Agency regulations which are making it more expensive to dispose of upholstered furniture.
The bulky waste collection currently costs Bristol residents £25 for three items and £50 for six, which would remain unchanged for non-padded furniture. Fees would be introduced for DIY waste at recycling centres – £2.90 per sack of rubble, £4.50 per sheet or bag of plasterboard and £11 for each sheet or bag of asbestos.
Domestic waste charges for schools, universities, community groups and religious establishments would also go up to just below commercial waste market prices, although the details of the 10 different chargeable rates are not in the budget papers going to cabinet on Tuesday, January 24. The changes, to come into force from April, are part of £16.2million of cuts and savings to plug a £20.3million gap in the council’s 2023/24 budget and are part of £30.2million in overall reductions in spending over the next few years.
Once approved by cabinet, the budget will then go to full council for approval or changes next month.
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