NORTH TYNESIDE LABOUR PLEDGE TO SCRAP EXTRA REFUSE CHARGE
Councillor Norma Redfearn, Labour’s candidate for elected Mayor in North Tyneside, has pledged to scrap additional charges being introduced to collect garden waste from homes across the borough.
North Tyneside residents are receiving letters from the Council demanding £20 for every garden refuse bin for households to continue having their garden waste collected. Residents have been given until the end of the November to indicate whether they are prepared to pay the additional annual charge for collections. The scheme is due to be implemented in March 2013.
Pledging to abolish this additional charge if she is elected Mayor next year, Norma Redfearn said, “I and many fellow councillors have been getting some angry feedback from residents about the Council's intention to introduce a £20 charge to collect garden refuse. Their negative reaction is hardly surprising. People take the view that the collection of refuse from households should be considered a basic local authority service that people pay their council tax for. It’s no use the Tory Mayor boasting about not raising the council tax but then introducing this type of local stealth tax through the back door. I don't think that's being straight with North Tyneside residents. It also penalises those households who take pride in the upkeep of their gardens and risks increasing incidences of fly tipping. This is an unfair and ineffective way of making savings in the Council’s budget and if elected I shall simply scrap it.”
Norma added, “I have heard that the supposed justification for not charging for this service through council tax is because not everyone wants a garden refuse collection. If this is the case, frankly, I think that’s an absurd argument. People may or may not avail themselves directly of many services but you have to take a view on the overall benefit to the borough and set a charge in a transparent way accordingly. For example, just because a person has no children of their own doesn’t exempt them from contributing to the cost of education in the borough. Basic services aren’t some form of buffet from which one can pick and choose what you want and have your council tax calculated that way. That’s simply ridiculous and unworkable.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. Whilst North Tyneside Council has a Tory Mayor elected in 2009, the political composition of the Council is now: Labour 44; Conservative 12; LibDem 4. (In 2009 it was: Labour 21; Conservative 31; LibDem 8.)
2. Councillor Norma Redfearn is the Labour Party candidate for Mayor of North Tyneside in the 2013 election. You can follow Norma’s campaign on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/normaformayor .
CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on this press release please contact:
Councillor Norma Redfearn
Mobile Telephone: 07759 699 707
eMail: norma4mayor@gmail.com
or
Tony Stephenson
North Tyneside Labour Group Media Unit
Mobile telephone: 07759 660 121
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