We’ll soon be paying to tip – twice!

We’re all aware of the massive PR exercise aimed at softening us up for the planned combining of Cheshire East, Warrington and Cheshire West & Chester councils.

This exercise at masking the failures of all three councils is confusingly called devolution – but possibly ‘devolution’ has a better ring than ‘incompetents-R-us’.

What’s inevitable is that once achieved, things will suredly get worse, when all three councils adopt each other’s punitive money-raising exercises. 

Well the first of these is Cheshire West and Chester’s decision to limit the number of visits a year to its local tips. To make things even harder, self-help enthusiasts are about to be hit by additional tipping charges for their DIY waste.

Think on, anyone declining to pay extra to have green waste removed may have no option but to pay when they take it to the tip!

The radical overhaul of the borough’s tips, which will limit the number of visits a year and introduce some additional charges for DIY waste, has been rubber-stamped, despite fears over the ultimate cost and the inevitability of increased fly-tipping.

Cheshire West and Chester’s ruling cabinet voted in favour of changes to services at its Household Waste Recycling Centres. From April next year, they will be managed by the council’s own company – Cheshire West Recycling (CWR) – when the current provider’s contract ends.

Under the newly approved plan, each household will only be allowed to visit a refuse site 30 times in any 12-month period. Visits by residents in commercial vehicles, or a vehicle towing a trailer, will count as two visits.

Visits will also be monitored, with residents being forced to register their vehicle and home address, so the number of visits can tracked. Big brother will really be watching.

Limited volumes of DIY waste will be permitted – up to eight bags or four bulky fitted items – additional DIY waste will cost £3.70 per bag to dump.

The council said the changes are needed in order to modernise its services, with the charges for DIY waste intended to prevent their overuse by commercial operators.

Cllr Stuart Bingham, told members: “The idea that we’re complacent about fly-tipping is just simply not true.

“A lot of work is done on fly-tipping. We collect a lot of data about fly-tipping. The evidence doesn’t suggest that there will be an epidemic once we introduce these charges I just do not believe that that will happen.”

Conservative Cllr Lynn Gibbon, said it felt like residents were being punished for doing the right thing.

She said: “Let us cut to the chase, residents are not cash cows. They already pay for waste and recycling services through their green ben and council tax yet under these proposals, they are being asked to do more, pay more, follow more rules and jump through more hoops in return for service reductions.”

Cllr Nathan Pardoe, said: “I suppose the alternative for residents is an unsustainable service or fewer sites. And I think in that context residents will support keeping the local sites open.”

We reckon it’s inevitable that Cheshire East and Warrington councils will adopt the scheme following ‘devolution’.

We’ve said it before and will say it again – we’re approaching a point in time where our council tax will just about cover the council and councillor’s wages, expenses and pensions. All and any services traditionally funded within council tax will have to be paid for – again – either directly or through town and parish councils – which have become the latest cash cow for local authorities.