A NEW charge for garden waste collections could lead to increased fly-tipping, a Worth Valley councillor has warned.

Bradford Council is introducing a new £35-a-year fee from June 1 to collect household garden waste bins.

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen – the Conservative spokesman for environment and waste – said while some people will happily pay, she fears there could be serious consequences from the move.

She added: "I think there will be some people who find it a convenient service and will be happy to pay, but there seems to be a lot of people saying 'I'm not paying for that. I pay my council tax, which is going up enormously this year. They can keep their bin'.

"My concern is will these people go to the effort of taking it to a household waste site, like Sugden End, or is it going to be dumped in a layby? It could be quite unsightly, particularly in rural areas."

Council officers are working on the basis that only a third of the 90,000 households that have a garden waste collection will be happy to pay for it, after analysing at what happened when similar fees were introduced in other local authorities.

Cllr Imran Khan, whose portfolio at Bradford Council includes waste management and sustainability, said the old system is unfair on those who do not have garden waste bins.

He said only households in certain parts of the district had been eligible for the service, meaning those who did not have brown bins are effectively subsidising those who do.

But he said under the new system, anyone in the district could pay for a garden waste collection, provided the wagons could access their streets.

Information about the new garden waste service is being sent out with people’s council tax bills.

The service will cost £35 for 11 collections, but anyone paying between April 1 and May 15 will be eligible for a 20 per cent early bird discount for their first year.

People wanting more than one bin can also get an extra licence at half price.

And Cllr Khan said neighbours who wanted to share a garden waste bin and split the cost would be welcome to do so.

He said his family-of-three will be getting two brown bins, one at the discounted early-bird rate of £28 and one at the half-price rate for a second bin of £14.

He said with a combined 22 collections a year, this worked out at less than £2 per collection, which he described as very good value for money.

Bradford Council will be starting to collect unwanted garden waste bins in six to eight weeks’ time.