Ill-conceived fee should be dropped

This is being disingenuously trumpeted as a ‘new service’ but the only ‘new’ aspect which I can detect is that from June (when there is of course a seasonal increase in garden waste) we won’t be getting it at all unless we sign up to pay an extra £29 for the privilege, a move which will I believe be resisted by many.

A small increase in council tax would have been far more sensible in my opinion, so is the piecemeal de-coupling of services HDC’s way forward in order to give the appearance that the council tax isn’t increasing? What’s next, an extra charge for the collection of recyclable plastics and cans?

The Acorn Plus idea was a good one in encouraging people to recycle and cut down on the amount of waste going to landfill but they could soon be orchestrating a return to the bad old days.

At a difficult time economically, many are struggling and simply can’t or won’t pay, and while some no doubt will take their green waste to a recycling site, what about those who don’t for whatever reason have the means or inclination to do so?

Expect to see an increase in fly tipping which the council will have to use up valuable resources to deal with; expect to be breathing the carcinogenic smoke from more bonfires; expect to see an increase in the production of greenhouse gases, and expect to see an increase in household rubbish bulked out with green waste going to landfill.

Garden waste is a valuable resource and I have often whimsically thought that the council should in fact be paying the householder for supplying this raw material which it receives for nothing and turns into a profit as compost, but they may well be seeing a reduction in its future supply.

I believe that the law of unintended consequences may fairly be applied here and I very much hope that the council will think again about their ill-conceived plan.

TERENCE ELDRIDGE

The Street, Thakeham