A COUNCILLOR has spoken of his anger that residents are being asked to pay a fee for their green bins to be emptied at the same time as their local authority spent more than £18,200 on refuse and recycling calendars.

Councillor Peter Wood, who represents Colburn on Richmondshire District Council, said people in his ward were annoyed when they heard they would have to pay to have their green bins emptied, with many telling him they would just dump the waste instead.

The authority decided to charge residents £17 a year for 22 collections of the green bin, but Coun Wood believes this could lead to fly-tipping and has had numerous complaints about the move.

But he said he was even more unhappy to learn that a two-year refuse and recycling calendar posted to residents across Richmondshire had cost £18,200.

He said: “They keep plugging the need to save money, and then we get these leaflets pushed through our doors.

“People are stopping me in the street to tell me they are not pleased about it – it’s sad really that we have to punish taxpayers at a time when all our other bills are going up and wages and pensions are not.

“It has really riled me.”

Leader of Richmondshire District Council, Coun John Blackie said it had been a reluctant decision to charge for green waste collection but cuts in central Government funding meant it was necessary.

He said: “By charging for green waste collection we can raise £400,000 towards the cost of the service. We are not going to be making money and it will still cost us something to provide it.

“We are just asking to cover the costs, if we did not we would have to cut services elsewhere.”

The cost of the green waste removal works out at around 88p per collection, and Coun Blackie said that the £18,200 was well spent.

He said: “When we unravelled our services from Hambleton District Council we decided not to appoint a waste and refuse manager, which has saved us £60,000 a year.

“Of that saving, £18,200 has been spent on the calendar which is more comprehensive and user-friendly than previous bin labels, and it also contains public health and recycling messages.”

But Coun Wood added: “Do they think people are thick and don’t know when it is a bank holiday?

“I really feel sorry for people in my ward.”