Here is the press release from the County Council about the rise in charges with effect from 1st October.
There will be an additional facility for recycling hard plastics.
Fly-tipping and waste/recycling collection are managed by the City Council in our area, but the County Council runs Redbridge.
From Bank Holiday Saturday banners and leaflets will be on site at all seven of our HWRCs, informing local residents that there will be a change in non-household waste charges from the 1st October. We will also be raising awareness via social media and will be issuing a press release w.c. 28th August.
The existing DIY 1,2,3 for free scheme is being replaced by a small fixed fee per item of £1.50 for non-household waste from the 1st October. Tyres and plasterboard will also be charged for at an affordable rate. The existing scheme has been in place for 15 years and during this time there we have not increased the charge of £1 per item.
The council is not obliged to provide residents with a disposal site for non-household waste. However, in the HWRC public consultation carried out in summer 2016, 91% of responses indicated that residents would prefer to pay to deposit non-household waste as a way of saving money and protecting other council services.
Soil, rubble, hard-core, plasterboard (gypsum) other DIY type items are classified as construction waste, not household waste, and are expensive for the council to dispose of. We recognise that many householders carry out small DIY projects from time to time, and by applying a small charge this allows HWRCs to continue accepting these discretionary types of non-household waste.
Non-household or DIY items, as a general rule are materials created from the construction, demolition, alteration or repair of a home or garden. For example a sink, bath, kitchen unit, fence panel, bag of rubble etc.
Residents can still dispose of all their household waste free of charge at any of the county’s HWRCs.
Also new in October 2017 will be a bin for recycling hard plastics. After a successful trial at Dix and Alkerton HWRCs, items such as plastic garden furniture and children’s toys will be collected and recycled from all sites.
You may want to remind residents in your area that all HWRCs are open until 8pm on Thursdays throughout the summer until 1 October 2017. We are encouraging people via social media to beat the bank holiday weekend queue by visiting their local site on a Thursday instead.
More information about the changes is available online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/chargeablewaste.
This is a stealth tax when we are already in the one of the highest paying counties for Council Tax plus we pay £30 a year for a garden waste bin. When will it stop? What’s more, the Government are encouraging everyone to re-cycle waste and now we are also having to pay to do so. I will be interested to see how much fly tipping takes place as a result of this ill thought out decision.
Certainly note your comments Graham, we are asking questions of officers about trends in fly-tipping, probably a bit early yet to tell.