Council to bring in £25 charge for bins (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Council to bring in £25 charge for bins

9:00am Thursday 14th March 2013 in Andover

TEST Valley Borough Council is to start charging for domestic wheeled bins from 1 April – bringing in extra cash and forcing people to take better care of the bins, councillors hope.

The charge is expected to be £25 for both the 240-litre and 140- litre domestic wheeled bins. The £30,000 provided by the charge will help fund the £56,000 annual cost of providing the bins.

The cost of providing bins is expected to increase partly because the number of households is rising so rapidly.

Currently Test Valley has 49,500 households but the major developments taking place mean this will increase to 53,500 and each will need bins.

Currently the council supplies 2,800 new bins to households each year.

Most councils in Hampshire already charge for wheelie bins while one, New Forest, continues to have sacks for domestic refuse.

In his report to TVBC’s Cabinet, environment portfolio holder Peter Boulton said: “The introduction of bin delivery charging was originally proposed as part of the council’s 2012 corporate challenge process.

“The estimated level of income for bin delivery charging was given as £30,000.

“However it must be noted that introduction of a delivery charge may reduce demand for the supply of bins and hence reduce the anticipated income level.

“The application of the policy should increase the value of bins in the eyes of residents who should therefore take more care of them.

“In this case the bins may last longer, reducing the environmental impacts of the supply of further replacement bins.”