As Liverpool Council offers one final free pick up of garden waste bins before its controversial new charge comes into force, its annual fee has been put up against neighbouring local authorities.
From this month, Liverpool will be the fourth of six councils in the Liverpool City Region to ask residents to pay an additional payment for their garden waste to be collected. St Helens, Wirral and Halton also charge for the non-statutory service.
However, Knowsley and Sefton still provide free collections in their boroughs. Liverpool Council was forced to offer one final free pick up for residents after a mix up on their website over when the existing provision would end.
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From Monday 18th April, residents must be fully registered with the new £40 annual scheme to have their garden waste collected. Liverpool Council had initially said on its website that free collections for all city residents had now ceased ahead of the new charge.
In a tweet, the local authority apologised for the “confusion and inconvenience.” Cllr Abdul Qadir, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, told a committee in March that for the scheme to break even, a 33% take up is required, the equivalent of 49,000 homes across the city.
More than 1,800 people have signed a petition calling for the charge to be scrapped altogether. It was confirmed last week that in neighbouring Wirral, the council would increase its garden waste charge by 15% to £50 per year.
The local authority said due to the rising costs of providing the service, residents would have to stump up more than the original £43 charge. If residents want a second bin they will have to pay £30, up from £25 currently.
In St Helens, having your garden waste collected will set you back £39, just £1 less than in Liverpool, while Halton Council asks residents to pay £35. When the fee was brought into St Helens five years ago, council leaders said it would “protect essential services”.
Halton introduced its fee structure back in 2015 and initially charged £25. Sefton and Knowsley do not charge residents at this stage but an additional food waste collection will be introduced by 2025 alongside its existing rounds.
In Liverpool this week, green waste bins should be presented alongside blue recycling bins if they are due for collection on Monday. It added that those who did not have their green bin collected this week will be picked up during their scheduled blue bin service from Monday 11th April.
