Gaynor Lloyd has sent me this comment on suggestions that the Garden Tax was a contributing factor to Cllr Keith Perrin's resignation. (It is published here as it was too long to go in as a normal comment on the original story)
As Keith Perrin's wife, could I just make a comment? I
was around when - after the election and as new Lead Member - Keith
was looking at the whole "package" of changes to the waste
arrangements: considering the overall contract, and the
variations including those for food and green waste. I know what research
he did , and how much time he spent raising questions with
officers, etc. I watched him deliver information about the changes in
various forums, and answer numerous residents' and councillors' questions,
including at Scrutiny - and follow up those questions which he was unable to
answer. I can say that Keith had - and has - no problem with
the "garden tax" (though he may not be keen on calling it
that!) or with the overall changes . What follows is the article he
did for the Sudbury Court Courier in our Ward, while he was Lead Member, and
which sets out Keith's genuinely held views.
" Changes to Waste Services in Brent by Northwick Park
Councillor Keith Perrin
After
being elected to the Council in May, for which I thank you all, I became Lead
Member for the Environment in June. Almost immediately, the
Council announced proposed changes to its Waste Services. Since then, I
have been questioned daily and often at great length on the subject. I
have had to understand the issues, the waste contract with Veolia (the
Council's contractor) and the position in the Borough as a whole. Most
contentious is the new 'opt in' £40 charge for a garden waste bin -
but the changes are about much more.
These
changes are being introduced for two reasons. Put simply, the Council has
no choice. It has to save money and it has to reduce waste. The changes should
achieve both. More than that, they will be fair and overall improve
the waste collection service to all the residents in the Borough.
The
basic principles behind the changes:
·
We have to
improve recycling rates
·
We have to
reduce overall collected waste (2011 Waste Regulations). Waste sent to landfill
costs us £108 a tonne.
·
We have to
reduce the overall cost of waste disposal. Mixed garden and food
waste costs £88 a tonne to process; food waste on its own costs
less than £30 a tonne and garden waste £34.
·
We have to save
money or increase income. We have a £53 million budget deficit. The
Government won't let us raise Council Tax; the Council is bound by law to
provide services - which cost money. We have to do what we can. These changes
will reduce the cost of the waste contract by a projected £378,000 per
annum (and potentially more).
So
- back to the Green Bins.
I
should explain that, unlike most waste, the Council has no statutory
obligation to collect garden waste for free; many councils have never done so;
since 2005, some of us in Brent have been lucky and received this service.
Living in the greener parts of the Borough, I have had a free green bin for
mixed food and garden waste. (In fact, I have two.) But not every household
in Brent even has one.
Their food waste has to go into the
ordinary landfill bin, collected fortnightly - so potentially smelling
awful, and attracting vermin, maggots and flies. You could say that our
green bins have been subsidised by other people in the Borough who have not
even had a food waste collection service. This does not make sense.
Going
forward, all 110,000 Brent households will be supplied with a robust sealable
23 litre food waste container - collected every week - by new compartmentalised
recycling lorries, which will also collect dry recycling (the blue bin
stuff). In one step reducing landfill by taking food waste, and the
overflow recycling which has previously found its way into the grey bins,
because blue bins are only collected fortnightly. This removal of
recyclable waste from the landfill bins will save us over £70 a tonne. Since
50,000 households don't have a green bin, you can easily work out how much we
might save.
I
have looked at the evidence from other parts of the country. I know that people
believe that garden waste will increase fly tipping. I believe It hasn't
happened anywhere, except Birmingham, where there were
"demonstrations" prior to the local election in May. I hope it
won't happen in Brent; I don't believe that those who love their gardens
would be the sort of people who would fly tip their garden waste.
I
hope we gardeners will think of composting, mulching, leaving wildlife areas
less cultivated, and being community minded in, e.g., helping each other
on shared runs to the free recycling centre in Park Royal. But, if there is fly
tipping, Veolia collect it. And pay the excess landfill tax. Veolia
clearly believe it will work! And I believe it will. It has to. We must reduce
waste, not just to save money but for the sake of the planet and our
children. And a bit more leaving of green wildness might help in that aim too.
".
