Garden waste collection service permits go on sale
Permits go on sale for Inverclyde garden waste collection service
Green fingered Inverclyde residents are being urged to get a permit for Inverclyde Council’s garden waste collection service. They are now available to buy online.
Last year councillors decided to start charging householders £30 a season (March-November) to have their garden waste taken away by the council. The charge takes effect from March 2020 and householders are advised to purchase their permits in advance to make sure they don’t miss out on the first collection of the growing season.
Householders who pay to have their garden waste collected will be issued with a non-transferable permit to attach to their brown bin. Residents can have more than one brown bin but each one must have an individual permit stuck to it. Householders who choose not to take part in the scheme can take their garden waste to the recycling centres at Pottery Street and Kirn Drive.
The move is designed to raise £289,000 a year. It is part of a package of measures introduced by Inverclyde Council to offset a fall in funding from the Scottish Government. Over the next two years the council is having to make £7million in savings and is shedding 58 jobs.
Councillor Michael McCormick, Convener of Inverclyde Council’s Environment & Regeneration Committee said, “The council regrets having to introduce this charge. The alternative would have been to cut other council services. Increasingly, this is the reality for Inverclyde residents - having to pay for non-essential services to subsidise the essential ones.”
A number of Scotland’s 32 local authorities currently charge for garden waste collection with fees ranging from £25 per bin to £36 per bin per year, with more expected to introduce charges soon.