Central Bedfordshire Council has defended plans to charge for the use of their tidy tips from next year, saying it is to “protect Central Bedfordshire taxpayers” from funding people from other areas bringing waste to the area.
A report to be presented at next week’s Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee (3 September) proposes introducing new fees for Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC), including DIY items, weighted garden waste and ground maintenance.
It adds that under current legislation, DIY waste is to be treated the same as household waste when it meets certain conditions, such as not exceeding the 2 x 50-litre rubble bags limit allowed to be disposed of free of charge.
Conservative councillor Sue Clark (Cranfield and Marston Moretaine) said on Facebook: “The proposal includes a ‘DIY charge’ of £4.95 for a small item, £9.90 for medium, £14.95 large.
“The report says this includes items such as a sink, bath, kitchen unit, radiator, fence panel and guttering. There is a £5.93 charge for ‘weighted garden waste bags’, whatever that means.
“We were told if we didn’t want a garden waste bin we could always go to the Tidy Tip. Can you imagine having your bootload totted up?
“What do we pay council tax for, what do they think people will do with these items? Pay at the tip or throw them in the hedge?”
Councillor Tracey Wye (The Independent Alliance, Potton) the council’s executive member for sustainability and climate resilience, said: “Under legislation introduced in 2023, DIY waste is treated as household waste as long it’s within a reasonable limit.
“This has been set by the government at 2 x 50 litre bags or one large item, such as a bath, per week.
“The council is asking councillors to consider its proposal to introduce a new charge to cover the cost of disposing of waste above the government limit. This is contained in the annual Fees and Charges report.
“The proposal is intended to protect Central Bedfordshire taxpayers from funding people from other areas bringing waste to their facilities, or seeing increasing amounts of their council tax being spent on paying to dispose of waste beyond what the Government has set as a reasonable amount.
“At this stage, it is only a proposal. If agreed, it’s important to note that people would still be able to deposit DIY waste free of charge within that limit.
“A new charge for the disposal of tyres, which are not household waste, is also being proposed. I welcome the debate at next week’s Overview and Scrutiny committee and look forward to hearing members’ views on the proposals, which other councils are adopting.
“Any agreed recommendation will go forward to the council’s Executive Committee for a decision before final agreement at Full Council,” she said.
But councillor Clark appears to think that this might not be agreed.
She claimed: “To give you an example of just how hard it will be for them to get bad ideas approved, at the Full Council meeting last week the Independents, who run the council, even failed to get their Community Safety Plan through, which is, frankly, unheard of.”
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
