No plans to scrap garden waste fee after election

Residents living under Shropshire Council can expect a garden waste collection fee to remain - for the time being - whoever wins the election

No political party hoping to run Shropshire Council after local elections on Thursday has promised to scrap the garden waste charge - at least in the short term.

More than half of households in the council area have paid the £56 charge to continue fortnightly collections until the end of October.

The payment window, which opened in September, ends on Wednesday, meaning residents who have not subscribed by midnight will have to wait until the autumn if they want their trimmings and grass clippings taken away.

The charge was introduced by the Conservative-run council to generate much-needed income, at a time when it was "unbelievably close" to running out of money. It has so far raised almost £4.3m.

But the number of households signing up for the service has fallen-short of the council's expectation.

The hope was that 70% of properties – or about 96,000 – would sign up. But as of last week, only 77,252 had done so.

The subscription window was extended by a month so the people who were gardening over the Easter period had time to join.

Opposition parties and some residents had criticised the council's initial cut-off date of 31 March because it was before the growing season properly got under way.

About 80% of councils already charge for curbside garden waste collections, including most of Shropshire's neighbouring authorities. Collections remain free, however, in Labour-run Telford and Wrekin Council, which has given a "cast iron" guarantee to not introduce a fee for at least the next two years.

What do local parties say?

The Conservative group on Shropshire Council said it had resisted raising the cost of the garden waste charge during its budget process, so the second annual payment from September would remain at £56.

The group said the collected money "frees up finances so that the council can continue to provide essential services for those who need them".

The Liberal Democrats have said they are committed to "reviewing" the fee if they take control of the council next month, and "if financially viable" the group would "cut or abolish the charge".

Labour described the "tax" as "ill-timed and ill-judged because it removed the facility for residents to dispose of food waste in an appropriate manner and forced many hard-pressed households to pay more". However, the group said it could not promise to scrap the charge because of "the current financial crisis of the council".

The Greens said they wanted to see home and community composting promoted, "alongside getting a proper strategy on track to reduce waste overall". The party said the garden waste charge would stay in place until there was a shift in strategy and funding.

Reform UK, which has never had a councillor on Shropshire Council but is fielding candidates in all 74 seats, said it would keep the garden waste charge. The local group said "it is only fair that people who use a discretionary service should pay for it, rather than being subsidised by those that do not".

A list of the candidates standing in Shropshire Council elections on 1 May can be found here.