A fiery row with a local council has erupted over the authority flirting with the idea to charge residents for a local bin collection.
The potential new fee comes as Bedford Borough Council confronts major financial challenges, with officials citing a projected £33million funding gap over the next four years.
Opposition Liberal Democrats have criticised the move as a “stealth tax” on residents but have stopped short of promising to reverse the charges if they regain control of the council.
At the Executive meeting on April 23, local councillor Marc Frost lamented the difficult financial turmoil plaguing the authority.
Local councillor Marc Frost lamented the difficult financial turmoil plaguing the authority
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The Tory councillor for Wixams and Wilstead announced that the council would require “consideration of charges for non-statutory services such as green waste collection and Telecare”.
He explained the projected £33million funding gap over four years was being driven by rising demand, inflation, and an impending business rates reset.
The Liberal Democrat group issued a statement after the meeting, slapping the Conservatives with accusations that they were planning a “stealth tax” on borough residents.
Lib Dem spokesman and councillor Michael Headley said: “Residents will be dismayed at the prospect of charges being introduced for green waste collections.”
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“This will be yet another stealth tax on top of the record Council Tax increases over the last two years,” he added.
Headley pointed out that “under the Liberal Democrat administration, green bin collection was deliberately kept as a free service.”
Additionally, his party alleged that they had warned about potential green bin charges since September.
When questioned directly on their next election, Councillor Headley responded: “We are not going to announce our 2027 manifesto two years before the election: no one would!”
A Lib Dem councillor claimed that ‘under the Liberal Democrat administration, green bin collection was deliberately kept as a free service’ (Stock)
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He insisted that the current budget situation did not necessitate the charges, adding: “But we can look at the budget today and see that it’s not necessary to do this, given the wasteful spending in other areas.”
The Lib Dems specifically criticised what they termed “wasteful pet projects” by the Conservative administration.
The Conservative group initially suggested that they would provide a formal comment on the matter by April 26.
However, they are yet to formally address the controversy.
GB News has approached Bedford Council for comment.
