Council Defends New Garden Waste Arrangements

Cllr Nicholas Botterill rebuts MP Andy Slaughter's criticism of scheme

In response to MP Andy Slaughter's criticisms over the council's garden waste arrangements, Cabinet member for environment Cllr Nicholas Botterill wrote to HammersmithToday.co.uk stating "The truth is that a system that threw taxpayers’ money around the borough like confetti has been ditched in favour of a more cost effective, customer friendly approach.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is changing its garden waste collections service from April 2 to minimise waste and bureaucracy and streamline the system for local gardeners.

The hugely expensive system used to sting taxpayers for more than £150,000 a year.

The astronomical cost was mainly due to the huge number of garden waste sacks that were randomly given away and then went unused or were left to rot on the boroughs streets and the overtime payments to council staff working on Saturdays.

Other criticisms of the wasteful system include:

• Complaints that residents with gardens had to trek miles to libraries or other council offices to fetch garden waste sacks
• Sacks were collected on a Saturday before most residents had done their weekend gardening meaning rotting sacks were left on the streets for days
• High polluting vans with several council staff in them were paid large amounts of cash to work Saturdays roaming the borough in search of odd sacks left out at random.

This scandal of waste went on for far too long. Vested interests meant that a system where hugely expensive overtime payments were made to council workers searching aimlessly for sacks on a Saturday was never challenged.

The new system cuts through this waste. It’s lean, effective and puts gardeners first.

The new scheme will slash costs to the taxpayer and enable £100,000 to be invested in other recycling initiatives that will deliver future savings for our residents.

Under the new scheme gardeners should register by calling 0208 753 1100 or online at www.lbhf.gov.uk from 28 March.

The collection days will move to Mondays instead of Saturdays, which will reduce staff overtime costs and make services more convenient for people gardening over the weekend.

Registration costs £6 and enables the council to deliver bags direct to a resident’s door rather than gardeners having to collect them. It also means the council can target the right addresses for collections rather than having highly paid crews driving around the borough looking for bags.

By introducing a small annual charge, we can make sure these very expensive sacks are used more carefully. We aim to halve the number of bags the system uses, cutting waste and costs to the taxpayer. Given the relatively few gardens in H&F it is only fair that the people who use the scheme make a modest contribution rather than expecting taxpayers to foot the whole bill.

The old system was rooted in the past and was complicated, costly and ineffective. The new scheme costs significantly less than the old one, is more user friendly and will be more effective in boosting the borough’s recycling rates."

March 23, 2007