Leeds brown bin service '˜should be universal'

Coun Stewart Golton branded the fact some homes in the Leeds district are not given brown bins as “unfair”.

He said many residents were also unhappy that the brown bin service is routinely suspended in the winter months.

Leeds City Council collects garden waste through brown bins distributed to 200,000 homes across the district.

Coun Golton, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Leeds City Council, said: “We have had issues where half the street has had brown bins and the others didn’t because they were on the wrong side of the road.”

He said the issue appeared to particularly affect new housing developments.

Coun Golton said: “New estates don’t just provide a whole new range of council tax income.

“The council also gets the New Homes Bonus, so they get paid for every new home that is built.

“So it seems a bit unfair if you live in one of these homes you don’tget access to all the services.”

Coun Golton said when he had raised this issue with the authority he had been told the brown bin collections were not a service the council legally has to provide.

He added: “If you pay your council tax you should expect a standard service.”

In a council debate next week, he will call for money the authority is saving in landfill tax now rubbish is being sent to the new energy-from-waste plant in Leeds to be used to expand the brown bin service.

This would include collections continuing to run through the winter months.