Very bad news just in. From next year, Croydon’s Labour-controlled Council will either cancel or start charging local residents for the recycling of their green garden waste.
The free Garden Green waste service was introduced by the Council when the Conservatives were in control between 2006 and 2014 and it has been hugely successful. The recycling rate during this time increased from the 16% in 2006 to 50% in 2014. Without the free collection of green garden waste, it is inevitable that the recycling rate will lower as it will discourage recycling. It will also potentially lead people to dump their garden waste, thus increasing the problem of fly-tipping, which is already a serious concern.
The recycling of garden waste is an incredibly popular service and residents are entitled to have their green waste collected free of charge given that we all pay quite hefty council tax already. It is completely unacceptable that the Council is going to make people pay for it and will only lead to more problems.
Our local member on the London Assembly, Steve O’Connell, has launched a petition to convince the council to reconsider their decision. If you agree that the green waste recycling service should remain free, then please sign the petition here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SaveCroydonGreenWaste
Earlier this year we demonstrated the power of these petitions when we collected over 6,000 signatures to keep Purley Pool open, which was successful. Please also send the petition on to any of your friends and neighbours who may want to sign.
