Council’s proposed garden waste collection service costs revealed

A council is looking to introduce a subscription garden waste collection service as part of its budget for the coming year.

A potential scheme was previously included in Hammersmith and Fulham’s Reduction and Recycling Plan (RRP), which it filed with the Greater London Authority (GLA) earlier this year. At the time it was not known whether a fee would be involved.

In documents published ahead of a committee meeting held on Monday night, the annual fee for the garden waste service was confirmed as £65.

The service – which is to be borough-wide – will be optional, with residents free to make alternative arrangements to dispose of their waste. It is expected to require £278,000 of ongoing investment from the council to run, though this is weighed against £650,000 in income, assuming 10,000 households sign-up.

Most homes in Hammersmith and Fulham do not have a garden that would require this service. The details of the potential scheme remain in development.

The council is proposing an overall investment of £488,000 in the Environment Department, which as well as the garden waste service includes funding for the Community and Cultural Events Programme, and a £60,000 contribution to a new Hammersmith and Fulham Black History Cultural Centre. This is weighed against roughly £1.5million of savings, efficiencies from rolling out wheeled bins and the garden waste collection income, among other items.

According to the council’s RRP, Hammersmith and Fulham is ranked third out of 308 authorities in the country for collecting the least amount of waste per person, and has the ninth-highest dry recycling rate in London.

Pictured top: Hammersmith and Fulham council offices (Picture: Google Street View)