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02/10/08 : Tory bin plans could force up Council Tax Bills:
"Green Tories" in a proper pickle
over recycling, says Labour
Shadow Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has told the Conservative Conference
in Birmingham that there would be an "expectation" under a Tory Government that councils
collect the bins every week, and that the Tories would find £121 Million to cover
the costs. And his remarks have drawn a sharp local response - from Jo Lovelock,
Labour Leader of Reading Borough Council, and Paul Bettison, Conservative Leader
of Bracknell Forest Council, partners with Wokingham in the re3 recycling centre
at Smallmead.
Jo Lovelock says: "Eric Pickles has shown how hollow is the Tories' commitment to
the green agenda, to the fight against climate change. Recycling is central to that
fight, and one of the most important contributions local Councils can make is to
push up their recycling rates. Like many other authorities, Reading has found that
the discipline of alternate weekly collections concentrates everybody's mind on
the need to recycle, and our weekly recycling rate has now risen to almost 40%
with national targets well in sight. The £121M Eric Pickles is offering across
the whole country is nowhere near enough to stop substantial rises in Council Tax
bills as recycling rates plummet under his plans: in Reading alone going back to
weekly collections would cost £11.5M a year in collection and disposal costs and
21.5M a year In landfill tax, as well as hugely increasing our use of landfill
and damaging the planet. Cameron used to say 'Vote Blue. Get Green', Pickles
is now saying 'Vote Blue. Forget about going Green. And pay more for the privilege'."
And Cllr. Lovelock has been joined in her anger by Bracknell Forest Council Leader
Paul Bettison, who is the Tory Chair of the Local Government Association's Environment
Board, and introduced alternate weekly collections in his authority.
As Cllr. Bettison told Andrew Peach on BBC Radio Berkshire, Eric Pickles is not
promising to fund the fines that would follow if recycling dropped. Cllr. Bettison
went on "The fines for Bracknell Forest we've estimated would be £7 Million per
year, which would mean we'd have to close all our preschools, all our libraries
and all sorts." He added that when he had explained this to Eric Pickles the Tory
Shadow Communities Secretary had said "Oh."
Jo Lovelock concludes: "Eric Pickles, whom David Cameron is touting as a future Minister, has really scuppered the Tories' flirtation with the greens. It's clear that he understands neither the implications of what he is proposing nor its cost. Like so many Tory proposals it lacks substance: it's only about trying to grab an easy headline."
Labour M.P. for Reading West, Martin Salter adds: "Bracknell Forest Council Leader Paul Bettison deserves great praise for having the guts to stand up to the idiots who are running the Conservative Party and warning of the dire consequences for both the environment and Council Tax payers if this daft policy ever sees the light of day. Alternate weekly collections have worked well in both Bracknell and Reading by driving up recycling rates and cutting landfill taxes."
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