Sunday, July 09, 2006
Miliband backs bin tax
Miliband backs the "bin tax"
David Miliband, South Shields MP and Environment Secretary, indicated yesterday that he backed an extra tax on household rubbish to make the "polluter pay" as he urged councils to take the lead in boosting the green agenda and tackling climate change.
The Environment Secretary said he was personally interested in the idea first suggested by Sir Michael Lyons last month in an interview with The Times. Sir Michael, who is conducting an inquiry into local government finance, said he was looking at a variety of charges for non-recyclable waste to supplement council tax, including variable waste-charging, where householders are charged according to the amount of rubbish they put out.
Speaking at the Local Government Association annual conference in Bournemouth Mr Miliband said that he could not pre-empt Sir Michael’s inquiry, which reports later this year, but there were a number of variants, including charging households according to the amount of blackbag waste they produce with recycling being collected for free.
"But the principle is simple: the polluter pays."
Let me state now that his constituents in South Shields will not favour the principle of paying twice to have our rubbish removed by Neighbourhood Services, we pay our council tax and expect to receive a rubbish collection service. Who would police this scheme? Who will ensure that when I put my wheelie bin out on Monday morning that it doesn't become overloaded with someone elses black bin bags within the hour? Because I have a wife and two children why should I end up having to pay additional charges? My neighbour is a single man and simply does not create as much waste as we do as we do, perhaps I should fill his bin to create a bit of equality. This system will simply provide the motivation and opportunity for fly tippers to really mess up our towns and countryside as householders battle to keep their rubbish to two bags or less - please think again!
Link
The Sunday Times.
About Me
Curly Born in 1956
Sanddancer
Sunderland fan
Male
Retailer
Former Borough Councillor
View my Profile
Contact
Email Curly
south-shields AT
blueyonder DOT co DOT uk
Got a story?
Got a tip off?
Got some scandal?
Let me know!
07941386870
Search
Search this site
Comments
How do I make a comment on this blog?
Links
Curly's Corner Shop website
Curly's Photoshop
My Message Board
Shields photo gallery
RTG Message Board
Sunderland AFC Blog
Site Feed
Blogroll Me!
Past
December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007