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Hambleton households are being urged to sign up for garden waste collection service

ByCharley Williams

Jan 24, 2017

Hambleton householders are being urged to sign up for the district council’s garden waste collection service.

Subscriptions open next week – 1 February  – at hambleton.gov.uk

From 1 April, only homes that pay for the collections will have their green wheeled bins emptied every fortnight.  The authority is introducing an annual charge of £35 per bin to help meet its £1m savings target.

But to be eligible for the service residents must subscribe to it – once completed they will receive a licence to place on their bin.   They can have up to three bins per household – but each one costs the annual £35 fee.  And for people with small gardens there is the opportunity to share bins.

The simplest way to sign up is on line – but householders can ring the council (on 01609 779977) or call in at one of the offices (in Northallerton, Stokesley and Easingwold) too.

The council introduced a free garden waste collection service 12 years ago as part of a national government drive to boost recycling rates.    Since then compulsory targets have been removed and because these collections are not a mandatory service, the trend across the country is now to charge for them in order to cover cuts in local government funding.

Bringing in charges on a voluntary subscription basis means the authority is in line with most of its counterparts – five of the seven councils in North Yorkshire already have a charging policy in place.

“Collecting garden waste is a discretionary service – the council has the choice over whether it removes it from households or not,” said Cabinet Spokesperson, Councillor Stephen Watson (pictured adding his home to the collections)

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“By introducing a charge for it we will be more able to maintain the delivery of this and other services. Householders have the choice of opting in or out of the service – they may prefer to compost their garden waste or dispose of it themselves at the household waste and recycling centres. 

“We believe that £35 is a reasonable and affordable price to pay for this service – and urge people to sign up.”

To sign up log on to hambleton.gov.uk and follow the links on the home page.  Householders can join the scheme at any point in the year but the £35 fee relates to collections from April to March and there will be no discounts for joining mid year.

To buy a cut price compost bin through the York and North Yorkshire Waste Partnership follow the ‘composting’ link on hambleton.gov.uk