Thursday, 22 January 2009

Rubbish - stat of the day

Cllr Luckett (Con) makes an interesting point about Reading's Rubbish, namely that Defra recorded 3,236 incidents of fly-tipping in Reading during the year 2007-08.

This works out at almost 10 incidents per day, every day. And he quotes an estimate of £100,000 clear-up costs.

Yet Cllr Luckett is more worried about the potential 'stealth' taxes which would come from charging for special bin bags, charging for the volume and weight of rubbish collected and according to the frequency which it is collected by the council.

He clearly doesn't seem to grasp the extent of the problem, so I will point him in the direction of a report which may inform him.

Cllr Luckett's challenge to other parties to decide between a healthy social environment and sound economics is a false one and he makes it in characteristic manner.

With waste continuing to be produced by households and companies it must be disposed of one way or another (Even Rob White found his personal challenge difficult). Does he mean to suggest increasing the council tax is a more effective and efficient way of paying for the clean-up than transparent charges?

LibDems around the country have successfully resolved the dilemma he proposes by taking advantage of Social Enterprise legislation in a way that benefits all concerned. So it remains a surprise that the two dominant political groups on Reading Borough Council have failed to embrace these opportunities in the same way.

It would seem that Reading's Conservative group are trying to muscle in on a policy area which the town's Liberal Democrats have been active for some considerable time.

NB. Here is RBC's information page on what may be put in your red recycling box.

Update: Redlands Liberal Democrats have provided a comprehensive response, as has Cllr Glenn Goodall.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous23 January 2009 at 00:20

    Good old Dave. Didn't he vote against a Lib Dem motion to Council to open the way RBC charges for bulky waste collection - one of the main causes of flytipping?

    (Though I suppose he's trying to cut back on unnecessary misuse of glass for not carrying lager... good man, there's a CAMRA campaign out there too?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous23 January 2009 at 09:51

    I'm fully aware of the problem of fly tipping. But surely charging for bin collection in one of the four ways, is logically going to increase not decrease or solve the problem? You might want to look towards Ireland, where bin taxes have prompted one in ten people to set fire to their rubbish rather than pay to have it collected. Keep Britain Tidy has already warned it will lead to people "simply dumping their garbage illegally in a bid to avoid paying up"

    Does this mean that the Lib Dems would be in favour of bin taxes in Reading as you are nationally?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oranjepan23 January 2009 at 10:24

    Dave Luckett,
    nice to see you.

    Householders already pay for their waste collection through council tax bills, so the questions you should be asking are whether the bill is charged fairly and how to measure what is a fair amount.

    If it can be calculated fairly the households which are better at managing their waste could actually see their bills reduce as a result, so there is an equal burden on the authority to educate the public about responsible waste management.

    The fear of 'stealth' taxes expresses a level of cynicism about politics and politicians in general. We should all be encouraging greater transparency and accountability.

    ReplyDelete

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