It seems that not a week goes by now without me seeing a sofa, fridge, mattress or other large object sat in someones garden, or someone tells me about one. Ever since the council decided to start charging for the collection of such items at a cost of over £10, I am convinced that flytipping, and a massive increase in such items lying in gardens and garages has started to occur. making our gardens and estates look more and more untidy. The council doesn’t believe this to be the case. This could be in part because their warden service is in such chaos that we have less staff proactively out and about checking on things such as flytipping, but more likely because no one is checking in peoples gardens. Tell me if you have seen a garden with such waste in it for more than a few weeks.

County Council members are currently investigating the bulky waste charges. If you disagree with the charge (which I do), please make sure that your feelings are known – equally, let them know if you agree with it. Details below of how to do this. The council are also interested to know if you feel that the charge should be based on income or ability to pay, and whether you have seen flytipping increase, or more sofas etc in peoples gardens.

I personally think that we pay enough in taxes to the council and that Labour’s Sofa tax is unjust and a waste of money. It would not surprise me if the total cost of collecting these payments is higher than the £10 charge, thus making it one of the most ridiculous taxes of all time.

Council consultation:

A Scrutiny Working Group has been set up to consider a review of the collection of bulky waste. This is a joint review between the Corporate Issues Scrutiny Committee and the Environment and Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee.

The Council has recently established a Scrutiny Working Group to consider:

• The fees charged for the collection of bulky household waste items and whether concessions should be introduced.
• Whether there is a link between the collection charges and incidents of fly tipping.
• The dumping of unwanted furniture, electrical and bulky goods in gardens and backyards and what actions can be taken to remove them.

If you have any views on the above, we would like to hear from you. You can contact us using the details below or complete our online form.