York’s Conservative Group has criticised Labour considering bringing in an additional charge for the first green bin collection. A report to the City of York Council Executive in under a week suggests all household green bins carry a further charge, beyond the council tax already paid. After years of incompetence from Labour and Lib Dems running York the green bin tax as long been considered as an easy revenue raise. However it is one Conservatives adamantly oppose and have pointed out that even the report suggesting a charge can’t decide what it would raise whether £750,000 or £1,500,000; indeed York’s Conservatives believe these figures are all too high as they ignore how behaviour will change.
Cllr Martin Rowley, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group in York, said ‘bin emptying is one of the most basic and vital services that the council provides and an additional charge for the first green bin of a household is totally wrong, this is exactly the sort of service that council tax should pay for. Residents already pay a charge is they want a second green bin but an additional charge for the first would be unfair and an entirely false economy as it would encourage green waste to go in the grey bins and would increase fly tipping’.
Cllr Rowley continued ‘whilst Labour and Lib Dems in York have often considered additional charges for all green bins, the Conservatives in York have long opposed this, opposed it in the 2023 Local Election campaign and continue to do so. We have seen hundreds of thousands wasted on higher political allowances, millions squandered on the city centre and Acomb bollards, millions wasted on major project overruns like the Guildhall and a more costly than ever senior management; addressing just a fraction of these would safeguard the services residents want and pay for.’
