Controversial North Northants green waste bin service sign ups start next week

Residents in the North Northants Council area will from next week be able to sign up to pay extra for their green waste to be collected.

Despite 80 per cent of 9,000 respondents in a consultation saying they preferred for green waste collections to remain part of the council tax, an opt-in service will start in April.

‘Green’ bins have previously been collected at no additional cost in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough, with a £55 annual charge in East Northamptonshire.

But to harmonise services and the cost to residents an annual £40 opt-in subscription will start on Monday, April 3.

Charges were brought in after a tight vote by a cross-party scrutiny commission when the decision was not referred back to the executive committee by one.

Residents can choose to pay the £40 fee or buy 10 compostable sacks for £16.50 for those with smaller gardens, as an alternative to the 12-month subscription service. Those who do not pay will not have their green waste collected.

Those living in the former East Northamptonshire Council area will be charged a discounted rate of £20 for 12 months to offset last year’s £55 payments.

North Northants Council’s executive committee said rising service costs had been behind the decision to charge an ‘appropriate’ rate across the whole unitary area, making ‘it fairer for all’.

Opposition members have said the decision could cause an uptick in fly-tipping, that garden waste could simply end up in black bins and that the charge is unaffordable for people in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.