York Liberal Democrats slam botched Green Bin Tax roll out
York Liberal Democrats have slammed the roll out of the Green Bin Tax after the announcement of the start date was delayed until after the General Election.
The council’s Labour administration originally paid for adverts to be posted on Facebook and in the 'Handy Mag' magazine delivered to thousands of homes in the north of the city which advertised a 22 July start date for the new charge.
However, those plans were halted after the Government called the election for 4th July, citing a need to “iron out any glitches.” It is understood that the decision to delay implementation was made after 66,000 letters to residents had already been printed and were ready to be sent to those households with green bins, costing Council Tax payers an extra £15,000.
Now that the election is over, the Council has announced that the Green Bin Tax will go ahead starting on August 5th.
It has been suggested that the launch had been delayed in order to avoid sending letters to residents just days before the General Election and an important Council by-election in Hull Road ward asking them to pay up or lose the service.
Councillor Paula Widdowson, York Lib Dem spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change said:
"It would appear that Labour cynically chose to delay their deeply unpopular Green Bin Tax by two weeks, costing Council Tax payers £15,000, in order to avoid sending letters to residents asking them to pay up or lose their green waste collection. The Hull Road ward by-election was won by a wafer-thin margin, which suggests that if Labour had stuck with their original launch date, they may have lost that by-election and with it their majority on the Council.
“This is a regressive tax that will hit the worst off in York the hardest. Liberal Democrat Councillors are urgently asking for the administration to hold off from implementing this adding tax on residents until after the new government reveals what their plans are for local government financing. We have been led to believe by the Labour council Executive that a Labour government would end the austerity in local government finances.
“The Council today have also confirmed everything Liberal Democrat Councillors have been saying about the environmental impacts of the Green Bin Tax. In their own press release they state that residents can drive their green waste to the Council’s two recycling centres if they do not wish to pay for at home collection. This means more cars on the road and will further worsen the traffic issues that has been caused by the Council’s decision to cut the opening times at Hazel Court and Towthorpe.”