'High' cost of Adur and Worthing's green waste collection service explained

One Worthing resident asked council leaders why the subscription price is ‘so high compared to other areas’.

A yearly garden waste subscription costs £85 in Adur and Worthing.

Alternatively, residents can buy garden sacks from various shops for £1.25 and have them collected – even without a subscription.

Meanwhile, Arun District Council charges £91.86 per year; Brighton, Hove and Mid Sussex residents pay £70; and a yearly garden waste subscription will set you back £44 in Horsham.

Adur District Council leader Neil Parkin (Con, Hillside) explained that Adur and Worthing’s councils are the only local authorities in the area which collect garden waste weekly.

“A lot of the people that use the service are quite happy to pay for it because it saves them queuing up at the tips,” he said.

Mr Parkin explained that charging less could see other residents without gardens having to subsidise the cost through their council tax.

“People who use the service, they usually have large gardens,” he said, “but there’s also a lot of our residents who don’t have gardens at all, such as less well off people in flats.

“The money for this has got to come from somewhere and I don’t see why the poorer people in our society should be subsidising the richer ones.”

Worthing Borough Council leader Beccy Cooper (Lab, Marine) agreed that charging for the service was fair but did not rule out a future price review.