Braintree Council introduce Gardening waste bin charges

A subscription service for garden waste collection will be implemented from March

An Essex council is to bring in charges for garden waste collection from March 2024.

Braintree District Council said the service costs £638,000 a year and was "no longer affordable or sustainable" with council budgets under "significant pressure".

Under the new model people will need to subscribe and pay an annual £55 fee for the service.

The decision was approved by the council's cabinet on Monday.

Under the new service, it would be funded only by those people who use it and pay the fee, rather than all council taxpayers paying for it, which the authority said was a fairer system.

People can get a discount on the £55 fee by signing up early, the council said.

Tom Cunningham, cabinet member for transformation, the environment and customer services, said councils across the country were "having to make difficult decisions about what they can afford to do".

He highlighted that other districts, including some in Essex, already have a subscription service for garden waste.

"Not every resident is fortunate enough to have a garden and some prefer to compost at home, so it is fair to ask those who want their waste collected by us, to pay for that service," he said.