Cheshire West and Chester Council Cabinet have approved a new Waste Management Strategy proposal that, if approved by full Council, will be in place for the next 10 years.

The proposal, which follows a public consultation on various options for waste collection in the borough, recommends the implementation of Option A, which would see household waste collected fortnightly and food waste weekly, as per the current arrangement.

Recycling will also be collected every two weeks, although households with enough space will be provided with larger bins to replace the current boxes.

Meanwhile, a charge of £40 per annum would be introduced for garden waste. This would be provided over the 'growing season' between March and November, covering 40 weeks of the year.

If residents chose to pay the fee, their green bin would be collected fortnightly. Neighbours will smaller gardens could choose to share a single bin and those with hardly any outdoor space would be allowed to put "a very small amount" of green waste in their black bin.

Under the proposals, Cheshire West and Chester Council would also carry out a detailed review into the suitability of the borough's recycling centres, beginning in Frodsham, where the site planning permission is due to expire on 22 August 2021.

Finally, a new fleet of waste collection lorries - including two electric vehicles – would replace the current provision, which is "aging and in need of replacement."

This system would be in place for a minimum of three years.

"Viable and deliverable"

At today's (Wednesday) Cheshire West and Chester Cabinet meeting, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Cllr Karen Shore, presented the recommendations, remarking that the public Waste Strategy consultation had been the biggest in the history of the Council, with nearly 15,000 responses.

"It's clearly sparked an interest and a debate amongst our residents," she said, adding that she had been asked by several people: "Why is this being brought forward now?

"The last review was in 2002 and the world has changed significantly in that time," Cllr Shore explained, adding that the borough has grown by 13,000 households in the intervening years.

"[These proposals are] also in the context of the Climate Emergency which was declared in 2019. It's very closely related to our Climate Emergency Action Plan.

"The more we recycle the less residual waste we produce. As a service we need to respond to those changes but also be proactive so we can address climate emergency challenges and be responsible citizens.

Cllr Shore added that the proposals come partly as a result of specific financial pressures related to waste collections, which have seen greater demand in the past year, with people working from home and producing more household waste.

According to Cllr Shore, the garden waste "discretionary charge" would serve "simply to cover the cost of [the service], which is in the region of £2.5million based on a take-up of 60 per cent.

"At the moment we are in a world where we have to look very carefully at the discretionary services we are offering because they are not statutory and budgets are tight.

She added that the money raised would go back into Council services, explaining that green bin collections are currently subsidised through Cheshire West's revenue budget, an action which takes away from other services including adult and children's social care.

Cllr Shore went on to explain that Option A was being recommended to Cabinet because a majority - 78 per cent of consultation respondents - were in favour of fortnightly bin collections.

"We listened very carefully to what people said about the options put forward. The options put forward were all viable and deliverable."

"Some very worrying proposals"

The proposed Waste Management Strategy was met with criticism by some Conservative councillors, who expressed concerns that the additional green bin charge would result in an increase in fly-tipping incidents or dissuade people from taking an interest in their garden.

Handbridge Park's Conservative Councillor Razia Daniels also suggested that any positive impact on carbon emissions produced by the Strategy might be outweighed by all the cars making extra trips to their local recycling centre to dispose of garden waste.

Chester Councillor Simon Eardley claimed that the consultation "questions should have been more open," with Marbury's Cllr Lynn Gibbon pointing out that 22 per cent of respondents to the public consultation did not answer one question at all, which suggested that they did not agree with any of the options.

Frodsham ward Councillor, Lynn Riley, then made reference to "a significant fear that Frodsham's Recycling Centre is unlikely to survive this strategy."

She said that when Cheshire West had acquired the site for another three years in 2018, the Council had suggested that it would have enough time to secure its future. But, "With only 74 days to go before planning consent expires once again, our future looks anything but secure.

"The pandemic has shown us how vital these facilities are. The Frodsham facility is not just for Frodsham, but serves a huge hinterland."

Cllr Riley added that the Council should be working to provide "equitable access," to recycling facilities for all Cheshire West residents, whether urban or rural.

"We want to see meaningful consultation in Frodsham about this issue please."

Discussing the Waste Management Strategy in general, Cllr Riley added: "The strategy, if it is to be adopted, needs to make sense to people and fit with local people, because otherwise you're asking local residents to fit with your strategy and that's not how it works.

"There are some very worrying proposals in terms of levying additional charges which are clearly very unpopular with the public."

Labour Councillors responded to the concerns of their Conservative counterparts, with Upton Councillor, Matt Bryan saying: "This system will enable us to make quite nimble decisions over the next 10 years."

Newton and Hoole Councillor Richard Beacham added: "These are about tough choices being made in a fair and balanced way."

Blacon Councillor, Carol Gahan also observed that 60 per cent of Council funds is currently committed to adult and children's social care, stating: "We have to do this in a realistic way and look at the landscape that is out there.

"We are trying to look after our vulnerable people," adding that charging the equivalent of two pounds per bin collection was therefore necessary.

The proposal was carried by Cabinet members and will be put to full Council on July 15.