CCBC costs and cutting

[Fester]

So what will they do if the majority of lesbian Afro-Caribbean respondents over the age of 65 agree to pay for it?   Set up a special collection service for them?

[Fester]

Reminds me of times past, during a training session in the early 70's I was told to close the sale with, "how would you like to pay, by cash or by cheque " do not give another option, sounds like someone on the council has had similar training.

What other payment options were available in the early 1970s Steve?

[Nemesis]

http://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Resident/Parking-Roads-and-Travel/Marine-Drive-Toll-Road.aspx

I see that the pass for the Orme toll road has risen from £20.00 to £30.00 in one fell swoop ! At least Dick Turpin wore a mask !

[DVT]

Bri Roberts ... there is a question how much you would like to pay ... you have the choice of £30, £36, £40 or £46 a year, they also quote the monthly figures of £2.50 up to £3.83.  Then you have a choice of what would encourage you to sign up to subscribe ... early payment discount, direct debit payment discount, online payment discount, 2 or 3 year sign-up discount.

The questionairre was delivered by hand to all the houses in our road, and includes a pre-paid envelope for you to send it back (how much is that costing, printing, postage and paying someone to deliver)?

In the Royal Mail Post I today received by council tax bill for the next 12 months - rises from £130 to £142 per month.  So that's an extra £12 plus at least £2.50 if you agree to pay for garden waste!

How many people will put their lawn cuttings into an ordingry bin bag and into the general refuse?

[Merddin Emrys]

I can see sales in garden incinerators going up!

[Meleri]

I can understand CCBC asking the question regarding the discounts, but who in their right mind is going to put any more than £30, it's obvious residents are going to choose the cheapest if faced with having to pay. When you think about the months of November to February there are very few people who put out garden waste, so you will be paying for a service you aren't using  Does anyone know how many bags are they proposing to take with these prices?
ME Noooooooo! don't talk about garden incinerators, we had a neighbour who lit one every weekend for weeks last summer, filling all the neighbours houses with smoke if we left windows open. In the end we got up a petition & put it through his door with a reminder CCBC can issue an abatement notice if a neighbours garden fire is causing a nuisance & can be fined up to £5,000 if they persist & we were monitoring how often he lit a fire.

[SteveH]

Meleri...........  "Does anyone know how many bags are they proposing to take with these prices?"

This system is to save money,           however re. your question, I believe the council's plan is to purchase green wheelie bins, and we purchase a valid bin sticker yearly, now to my knowledge the green wagon is not designed for bin lifting ? so CCBC thinking on cost savings........... new bins and wagons 

And I do sympathise with the smoke problem, a couple of local houses have wood burning stoves, which they allow to smolder, not a lot we can do, but it does not help people with breathing difficulties.    

[Hugo]

We had one lady in the street who had bonfires on a regular basis and burnt plastics as well as everything else and the smell was awful.  Thank goodness she has moved and we don't have to put up with it any more

[Nemesis]

I can understand CCBC asking the question regarding the discounts, but who in their right mind is going to put any more than £30, it's obvious residents are going to choose the cheapest if faced with having to pay. When you think about the months of November to February there are very few people who put out garden waste, so you will be paying for a service you aren't using  Does anyone know how many bags are they proposing to take with these prices?
ME Noooooooo! don't talk about garden incinerators, we had a neighbour who lit one every weekend for weeks last summer, filling all the neighbours houses with smoke if we left windows open. In the end we got up a petition & put it through his door with a reminder CCBC can issue an abatement notice if a neighbours garden fire is causing a nuisance & can be fined up to £5,000 if they persist & we were monitoring how often he lit a fire.

We too have a 'recently arrived' new neighbour who has made himself very un-popular with his neighbours by lighting and leaving lit bonfires. One night we had one left unattended which was shooting flames 7ft high into the sky after 11pm.He and his missis weren't happy to be tackled on the subject.

[SteveH]

RESIDENTS in Conwy will have to start paying for their garden waste collections.

Members of the council’s cabinet have agreed that a charge should be brought in for the service. It follows on from the authority becoming the first council in Wales to introduce a four-weekly residual waste collection.

The cash-strapped council also brought in a 9.6% council tax hike earlier this year as it struggles with a £15.2m budget shortfall. By bringing in the new charges for green waste, the council hopes to save some of its £620,000 bill for the service. More than half the councils in England and Wales have introduced charges

for garden waste collection, including Gwynedd, Denbighshire and Flintshire, with Powys planning to start in 2019. At the moment, Conwy council says its garden waste collection contract is costing it £620,000 per year, which involves crewing five collection vehicles during peak season, with the service set to go back out to tender.

A fee of £30 a year was agreed for the collections, which is expected to bring in £600,000 if 20,000 residents take up the service.

Public consultations have taken place on the proposed changes, with 57% of respondents saying they would be happy to pay for the service.     

Cllr Donald Milne, the cabinet member responsible for the environment, said between 15,000 and 20,000 residents would be expected to use the service despite the introduction of the fees.

Residents who do take part in the scheme may be eligible to get free compost from the council, although this option is still under consideration.             

Cllr Milne said: “Many of our residents don’t have a need for this service anyway, so why should they pay?
“The tendering process will be using our usual competitive tendering operation so I have no fears that we would not get a good deal.     

“As regards compost, it was something people thought many years ago that it was something we could sell, but effectively we are too efficient. We collect so much of it that we can’t dispose of it.     

“It’s only since 2007 that we have done this. Prior to that, our residents were left to their own devices and the degree of fly-tipping of garden waste then was relatively minimal.

“Authorities that have since introduced this have not seen any problems on this.”     

Cllr Sam Rowlands, the cabinet member for finance, said: “We’re looking to charge £30 a year for a very good service.

“It would seem like quite a good perk to say help yourself to compost so that you’re getting as much compost as you need, as well as your stuff going.”    ref Pioneer

     

[Giggly girl]

There are going to be a lot more bonfires 

[Bellringer]

Cllr Milne says ’many of our residents don’t have a need for this service anyway,so why should they pay?’

I don’t have a need for many of the Council’s services, so is Cllr Milne saying that I shouldn’t be paying for them as part of my council tax?

[Hugo]

A good point Bellringer     

[SteveH]

I did hear what I thought was a good idea, bin sharing, if neighbors with small gardens, get together......... 

[Ian]

Cllr Milne said: “Many of our residents don’t have a need for this service anyway, so why should they pay?

Oh, good,  Our boys are now working, so I don't need to pay the education service component, we  don't use social services so that's another component we won't need to pay.  But this particular individual has an interesting track record:

Conwy councillor Donald Milne voted for monthly bin collections despite campaigning against the proposal during the local elections. 

 Cabinet member for environment, roads and facilities, cllr Donald Milne, said: "Since we introduced four-weekly bin collections, most households have had no problem making the change – they are using the weekly recycling collections to keep space in their bins for non-recyclable waste.

"We provide a weekly waste food collection service in lockable containers, which means there shouldn’t be anything in the general waste bins to attract rats or other pests."

The Pioneer reported in September that there had been an increase in rats across the county with sightings in Llandudno and as far away as Penmaenmawr.

So clearly in touch with his constituents and on a nice little earner in the cabinet.