Council executive approves plans to harmonise North Yorkshire garden waste collection fees

The proposed changes have been approved in North Yorkshire.

Plans to introduced ‘harmonised’ garden waste collections fees across North Yorkshire have been given the green light.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Executive approved the proposed rates for garden waste collection charging for the 2023/24 season which will see residents across all the county’s district and borough council areas pay £43.50.

The Executive has requested the district and borough councils implement the new rate, although residents of Richmondshire will face a smaller charge of £26.50 charge due to them having smaller bins.

The 2022-23 charge for Scarborough is currently £38 and Harrogate £41.

Cllr Derek Bastiman detailed the plans to ‘harmonise’ the non-statutory garden waste service across North Yorkshire.

It is proposed to move to a harmonised fee of £43.50 for 2023/24, with the different collection arrangements across the county also to be harmonised.

At the meeting, Cllr Keane Duncan asked about whether the different service provisions currently in place across the county would also be harmonised.

This was confirmed, with a further report to go to the Executive on this in due course.

An officer’s report to the executive stated: “Charges have been frozen for several years for most authorities and now is a good time to review the charges.

"It is also a good time to harmonise the charge ahead of the formation of North Yorkshire Council such that it is fair to all residents across the county.

“The most recent data indicates that taking inflation into account the average cost in the Yorkshire and Humber region was around £44 for fortnightly collections. Set in this context the proposal of harmonising at £43.50 is reasonable."