Tuesday 23rd January, 2024
The new Garden Waste Collection service in Colchester has already delivered an income of £741,594 – before the end of the first week of the paid for service.
Nice work, etc.
The target of £600,000 income generation for the financial year has been broken. It seems that residents are happy to pay for the service that was once offered for free.
These figures will be discussed when the Scrutiny Panel meets at the Town Hall on 23rd January. The report Business Case for the Garden Waste Charging Scheme updates the Panel on the progress made so far.
The current subscriber rate is 22% of all residents in the borough. The Council had budgeted for an 11% uptake.
This translates to 15,928 households, against the forecast of 7,758.
In total an income of £1.474m has been generated for the scheme. The £741,594 relates to the current financial year.
The report confirms:
“The launch has exceeded performance targets.”
The new scheme has a £35 ‘joining fee.’ Residents then pay an annual price of £55 to have a garden waste bin collected each fortnight.
654 residents in receipt of Local Council Tax Support have signed up to the scheme as of 10th January 2024, benefiting from a discount on the joining fee.
Council Officers have assumed that the new service will start with three crews, who will drive four routes until more capacity is needed. The operation will expand to four crews.
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