Council may not refund for bin collections
Hundreds of pounds of tax payers' cash could be kept by a Lincolnshire council after it scrapped a charge for bin collections.
Around 13, 800 households in the West Lindsey area used to pay an up-front annual fee to have their green garden waste bin collected.
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waste of money: West Lindsey has now made its green bin collection free – but residents who paid for the service before the decision was made are unlikely to get a refund.
Now the region's district council has made the service free of charge and has rolled it out to all 40,000 homes.
But anyone who has already paid £24.50 to get their bin collected for 12 months is unlikely to be able to claim the cash back.
A spokesman for West Lindsey District Council said the introduction of free green bin garden waste collections had been "enthusiastically received" by residents.
But he acknowledged there had been some issues with people who believed they were entitled to a refund.
Retired Peter Hyde, 60, from Saxilby, said he thought it was unfair the council was not automatically refunding residents.
"I paid around seven months ago, which means the council effectively owes me for the next five months," he said.
"I realise it's not much money – maybe only eight or nine pounds – but when you add up what they owe everyone it soon mounts up.
"If I owed them they would be quick to come after me, I bet."
7 Comments
by Barry, West-Lindsey
Monday, September 14 2009, 5:01PM
“'it wasn't a compulsory payment, it was a choice.'
are you saying that all those years that people paid for the green bin, and the garden refuse to be recycled, was an option,I don't think so, but I am sure that your comments will be welcomed by those overpaid officials at West-Lindsey District Council.”
by Alan P, Dunholme
Monday, September 14 2009, 4:21PM
“I totally agree with Halibut's statement.”
by halibut, Lincoln
Monday, September 14 2009, 3:33PM
“Of course they shouldn't be refunded. If I bought a television 6 months ago for £500 and found the same model today for £400, would I be entitled to £100 back? It wasn't a compulsory payment, it was a choice.”
by philip, milton keynes
Monday, September 14 2009, 12:28PM
“Gutted.”
by Cameron Love, Lincoln
Monday, September 14 2009, 11:47AM
“IF all 13,800 people still had 6 months remaining that is looking at £150,000+ that the council now has in their pocket refusing to refund. Nice work if you can get it?”
by Barry, west-lindsey
Monday, September 14 2009, 9:12AM
“If the money is owed and refundable then it should be. Remember West-Lindsey District Council is a council that poorly invested £7 Million pounds of public money, the services to the public are now suffering because of that. Also it pays its CEO Duncan Sharkey now over £100,000 a year as the head of this failing administration while making catastrophic financial errors.
Rest assured, if the boot was on the other foot and the public owed the money, then west-lindsey would be the first to act. Mr Hyde is correct.”
by Dan, Lincoln
Monday, September 14 2009, 7:04AM
“How very petty some people are over very small amounts of money that would cost council tax payers far far more to repay than the value of the refunds themselves.
These people paid £24.50 for a service, and they're still getting that service. Admittedly, they'd have got it free if they'd waited, but they're still getting the service.
Time to get a life, I think......”