Dundee residents could face a “garden tax” rise next year as the cost of a brown bin permit is set to go up.
The city council is proposing to hike the annual charge from £35 to £40 per bin for 2022, in a bid to raise an extra £100,000.
The fee – branded a “garden tax” by critics – was introduced in 2019/20 to cover the cost of picking up garden waste including grass cuttings and hedge trimmings.
Councillors are being asked to back a motion next week that would see the 14% rise introduced.
But one says it would be “fleecing” the public to push ahead with the plan.
Move to cover ‘increased costs’ of garden waste service
Papers from council officials sent to elected members state: “A permitting scheme for domestic garden waste collections was introduced during the financial year 2019/20.
“The annual charge was set at £35 per bin with participating households receiving 20 fortnightly collections over the course of the year.
“The collection of garden waste is not a statutory service that Dundee City Council has to provide to householders.
This is the first price increase since the charge was introduced in 2019/20
Council officials
“In order to cover the increase in costs of delivering the garden waste service, that include staffing, transport, processing and the supply of bins and permits, during the third year of operation, it is proposed to increase the charge to £40 per permit.
“This is the first price increase since the charge was introduced in 2019/2020.”
If approved, the council will open registration for the scheme from next month, in advance of the collections starting in March.
The move comes after the council agreed to stop collecting “side waste” from all eligible properties across the city by November 29, meaning extra bags presented for collection alongside general waste bins will not be taken away.
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson – leader of the council’s Lib Dem group – says he will oppose the rise in garden waste charges.
He said: “The £5 increase represents a 14% hike – at a time when inflation is running at about 3%. How on earth can that be justified?
“It is completely unjustified and just a way of the council fleecing another £100,000 out of the Dundee public.
“We should be encouraging more recycling not less and the garden tax increase will make matters worse.”
‘No wonder people fly-tip’
Locals have also shared concerns about the increased cost, suggesting it could even lead to further fly-tipping.
Responding to the news on social media, Roddy Smith wrote: “All this will do is force people to use the grey bins for grass cuttings.”
Irene Duncan posted: “No wonder people fly-tip.”
Freddie Connor believes it discourages people from having a garden, saying people are “being penalised for the enjoyment of growing plants which in turn absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and also release O2 into the atmosphere”.
MSP calls on council to reconsider
Mercedes Villalba, a Scottish Labour MSP for North East Scotland, said: “I am opposed to the increase of a brown bin permit in Dundee from £35 to £40.
“In the wake of COP26, we should be seeking to encourage people to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices such as disposing of their garden waste.
“This hike in the cost of brown bin permits is counterproductive and I would urge the council to reconsider.
“Ultimately, we have to reflect on the fact that councils are being forced to make these kinds of difficult decisions due to the Scottish Government’s failure to provide them with a fair funding settlement and nearly fourteen years of local government cuts”.
