Is Pendle Council being run like a budget airline?

This must be vigorously resisted for history shows once a “tax” is implemented, it can easily be increased. Who is to say that again under the guise of wanting money to fund essential services, it won’t be increased annually or next year it will also be applied to brown bins and green boxes?

I am not convinced it has been properly thought through. How will the money be collected and how many extra staff will be needed to collect it?

David Walker, Pendle Council’s Operational Services Manager, sugars the pill by saying we can always opt out, but again I ask, has this really been thought through? Will those who opt out have their green bins taken away? Will an army of enforcement officers roam our streets on collection day to check those who have opted out are not putting garden waste in their black bins?

It is all right saying we can avoid paying the green bin tax by composting our garden waste or taking it to the tip, but who wants a smelly compost heap in their garden and with the closure of Colne’s HWRC, a journey to the nearest tip can involve a round trip of eight (Burnley) or 14 miles (Barnoldswick).

Does this not smack of double standards? On one hand the council tells us that to save the planet by reducing vehicle journeys we must only put the green bins out when they are full, but on the other hand, they are happy to let the public pollute the atmosphere by making trips to the tip!

Mr A. Martiness

Bedford Street, Barrowford