WIRRAL Council has come under fire for plans to re-introduce controversial charges for picking up bulky waste from people’s homes.
Members of the authority’s ruling cabinet approved the new £20 charge for the Eric system which receives some 21,000 requests for rubbish removal a year.
In April 2005 a £15 charge was introduced by the local authority, against a background of opposition from Conservative and Lib-Dem councillors.
The take-up on the service subsequently dropped by more than 75% by the following August and 58 extra tonnes of rubbish had been dumped illegally in the borough, a rise of 26%.
A free service was restored in 2006 on a temporary basis.
According to DEFRA in 2007-8 Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council spent £496,116 dealing with 5,175 fly-tipping incidents.
The council hopes to save £515,000 from the Technical Services budget by making the charges.
Cabinet member Cllr Gill Gardiner said: “Since our last decision on this issue, opportunities for free disposal have increased considerably.
“The high value of scrap metal also provides residents with alternative free and legal ways of disposing of white goods, and social enterprises such as Wirral Independent Recycling Enterprise (WIRE) and many local charities such as the British Heart Foundation will collect unwanted furniture and electrical goods free of charge.
“Many items from WIRE and charities find their way to people in need, extending the useful life of goods that would otherwise be thrown away.
“Freecycle Wirral internet service promotes re-use of goods.
“We want as far as possible to ‘signpost’ people towards re-use and recycling rather than disposal; this is better for the environment and helps keep waste out of landfill which is an expensive option for the council taxpayer, and landfill sites are becoming more difficult to find.”
“But if disposal is required we will direct people first to the many free opportunities now available. And Wirral’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across the borough provide recycling facilities for everything from freezers to furniture, from batteries to building rubble, as well as facilities for disposing of household items that cannot be recycled or reused.”
“The new Eric service will now take up to five items per visit at a charge of £20, which is still a competitive rate compared to the private sector.”
But Conservative leader Jeff Green branded the Liberal Democrats – who share power with Labour on the council – “hypocrites”.
He said: “I am disgusted at the cabinet’s decision and particularly outraged at the hypocrisy of the Lib-Dems who campaigned alongside us to keep Eric free.”
Cllr Green warned that the decision was likely to lead to increased fly-tipping by those unwilling to pay the £20 levy and added: “What is it that they are expecting people to pay their council tax for?”
The cabinet also approved saving £30,000 by withdrawing funding for Christmas lights for traders from 2009, and £45,000 by increasing tuition charges for the borough’s instrumental music service.
The meeting was held against a backdrop of fears for the future of some of Wirral’s best loved buildings, including libraries.
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