On the 1st November 2022 at a full council meeting, a motion was put forward by Cllr Dan Thomas which was unanimously voted on by both Labour and Conservative members to not raise the Garden Waste Charge above £70 till 2026.

The council have now included a rise of 40% of the Garden Waste Charge into their budget looking to raise an extra £1 million to balance their budget after they crashed the council’s finances before the end of their consultation on the rise in charge.

Cllr Dan Thomas, Leader of the Opposition, said:  “Labour’s u-turn on the garden waste charge proves they cannot be trusted with the council’s finances.  We are all paying for their financial incompetence.”

Cllr David Longstaff, the Conservative Lead on Environment, said: ‘’The only way to build trust is to do what you say you’ll do. In November ‘22, the council voted unanimously to freeze the Green Bin charge until May ‘26. Labour has driven a bulldozer through that democratic vote with an enormous, unjust, inflation-busting increase of nearly 40%. Labour can never be trusted. Like many inflation-busting increases in this year’s budget, Labour wants your money and will do anything to take it from you.”