Garden waste collection charges are set to rise by slightly above the rate of inflation, despite forecasting the service is set to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds more than had been envisaged.
A report to a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s environment executive members meeting on Monday states the proposed garden waste subscription charge for 2024/25 would be £46.50 – a 6.9 per cent rise for most areas.
Bringing the charges into line across the county last year saw residents of the Craven district area paying an extra 20.8 per cent for the service while residents in the former Selby district are set to pay for garden waste collections for a whole year of collections for the first time.
Richmondshire residents who subscribe will have their smaller 140-litre wheeled bin replaced with the 240-litre bins provided for garden waste in the other areas of the county.
Charges for the often fortnightly roadside collections had been frozen for several years for most district and borough authorities and earlier this year council officers said the average cost in Yorkshire and Humber region for garden waste was around £44.
When challenged over the charges, the authority has emphasised the collections are a non-statutory service, and that it is not considered fair “for people who do not use the service to have to subsidise it”.
The officers’ report states it is expected that full harmonisation of subscribing to the garden waste service across the county will take place from 2025.
It adds the total number of garden waste licences bought in 2023/24 is forecast to be 126,750, generating an annual income of £4.996m, which is £302,000 above the income forecast for the year.
The report states the extra income is due to Selby district area achieving “an impressive participation rate” of 43 per cent since introducing charges in July with total subscriptions at 18,500, compared to the target of 6,900.
The council has previously warned of potential to lose some subscribers as a result of its increase in charges.
Nevertheless, the report to the meeting states there has been no impact on the level of subscriptions as a result of harmonising the garden waste subscription charge in any of the former district and boroughs which already charged for the service.
The report states: “If people choose not to subscribe to the garden waste collection service, experience from other authorities shows that residents tend to compost at home instead as there is no corresponding rise in residual waste tonnages to match the reduction in garden waste tonnages, therefore there is little impact on the environment.”
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