9:04am Thursday 13th March 2008
By Mike Foster
The recent row over garden waste collection is proof that a wholesale review of how local councils work in Worcestershire is needed.
It cannot be right that one part of Worcestershire gets an improved service, but the bill is paid by others who don't benefit.
It cannot be right for this service to be subsidised by the council taxpayer.
Why should people with small or no gardens in the city of Worcester pay for the composting of garden waste in Broadway, Evesham, Droitwich and Pershore.
Quite simply the plans amount to a redistribution of income from the less well-off to the wealthy – typical of a Conservative council.
For the Wychavon councillors who need my views explained more slowly, here goes.
There should be a universal offer of a kerbside garden waste collection to all homes in the county.
The cost of this extra service should be paid for by the individual homeowner, and that cost should cover the collection and composting of the waste.
The hard-pressed council taxpayer should not have to subsidise this additional service. Any other offer would be unfair and should be resisted.
My neighbour, Peter Luff, argued quite forcibly that Worcester City Council has an expensive waste collection system.
He made the point in a recent interview that the cheaper Wychavon service allows them to collect food waste weekly.
I have a great deal of sympathy with this view. If Wychavon can afford to offer a weekly food waste collection for its residents, and they charge less council tax, exactly what is Worcester City
Council doing wrong?
I’m delighted that Peter and I agree on the matter of weekly food waste collections.
It shows that this is not a party political issue but a competence one.
On a broader note, and my neighbour will disagree with me on this no doubt, it does beg the question why can’t we have a uniform system right across Worcestershire, with one body responsible
for the collection and disposal of waste.
At the moment we have six district councils, all of them doing their own thing, all with their own bureaucracies.
They collect the waste. Then the county council has to dispose of it, and yes they have their own bureaucracy and administrators. One waste authority would save a fortune, and if we had the most
efficient provider as well then the council tax could be lower and our service better.
When looking at the current chaotic system, there is a better way.
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