A “TWO-tier system” has left some South Gloucestershire residents paying for garden waste collections, while others get their bins collected for free.
Since July, South Gloucestershire Council has not taken payments from people renewing annual garden waste subscriptions after it changed the collection system.
This means some residents are paying £63 a year to have their green bins collected, while others who are unable to renew their subscriptions don’t have to pay.
The council’s cabinet was urged to simply accept payments at the current rate at a meeting in November.
Andrew Shaw, a parish councillor in Bradley Stoke, said: “What I don’t understand is why the transition from an old system to a new system wasn’t a changeover that maintained continuity of service, by putting the new system in place and testing it before the old system was discontinued.
“This doesn’t look like competent operations or financial management.
“It’s created a two-tier set up with some garden waste subscribers, like myself, paying for the service, while other subscribers have enjoyed the same level of service for nil payment. So will I get a refund or will the other people be receiving a back-dated invoice?”
Mr Shaw said he estimated that the council had lost out on more than £500,000 due to not taking payments since July – more than the £400,000 it proposed to raise by increasing charges by 19% next year.
He said: “Surely the reason why the cost of the green bin collections isn’t being covered is because you’ve been providing it free of charge for certain residents for a third of the year?”
Cabinet councillor for communities Sean Rhodes said the council was “very, very concerned” about the fee collection problem.
He said: “We’re working as hard as we can to get a resolution, because with the reduction in revenue, it’s not something that can carry on unresolved.”
Council leader Maggie Tyrrell said councillors had expressed their displeasure over the issue and would continue to work with officers to rectify it as soon as possible.
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service