By Leicester Mercury | Posted: 03 February, 2015
County Hall’s controversial plans to save £1.1 million on the way it deals with household waste have been opened up for consultation.
Leicestershire County Council wants to hear people’s views on proposals to reduce costs without having to close its tips and recycling sites completely.
As previously reported by the Mercury, ideas include scrapping free use of the sites for charities and parish councils.
People living outside Leicestershire could also be charged to use the county tips, opening hours could be pared back and free disposal of non-household waste such as bricks, rubble and other DIY waste could end.
Charities including Age Concern and the LOROS hospice have already warned the loss of free tipping could have punishing financial implications.
County cabinet member for waste councillor Blake Pain said: “The council needs to save £1.1 million from its household waste and recycling sites budget, as part of its overall £120 million savings.
“We have a range of ideas and we now want to hear people’s views on how they could work.”
LOROS Chief Executive Simon Proffitt said proposed tipping charges could cost the charity an extra £15,000 annually a year - “the equivalent of us providing care on our ward for two patients.”
The council spends £27.4 million per year on waste and recycling and says it needs to reduce that figure by £4.9 million by 2018/19.
County Hall’s Liberal Democrat opposition waste and recycling spokesman councillor David Bill said: “We have serious concerns about the effect this could have on charities.
“Sometimes furniture ‘donated’ to them can be damp and ruined. If we start charging them to dispose of such items, they may find they can no longer afford to accept such donations altogether.
“This would have a terrible impact on a service that they currently provide!”
“We also want to be careful not to spark off a “tit for tat” war with other councils. There are a number of services in the city than can be freely used by residents in the county.
“We wouldn’t want to set a precedent for other Councils to start denying services to our residents.”
The consultation will run to April 26.
The council’s cabinet will consider the results of the consultation and decide on which proposals to take forward later this year.
www.leics.gov.uk/haveyoursay/futurewastemanagement
