Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fly-tipping fear as brown bin fee jumps 16% in year

Jack Shepherd of Dingwall is angry that the council increased the prices for the brown bin collection in the area.
Jack Shepherd of Dingwall is angry that the council increased the prices for the brown bin collection in the area.

Highland Council has come under fire for announcing a hike in garden waste pick-up fees just months after introducing the charge.

Until last year, homeowners were entitled to a free brown bin service during the summer months for refuse such as hedge clippings and cut grass.

But in June, the council imposed a £30 annual fee on anyone wanting to continue using the pick-ups.

And now, it has emerged that from this June, collections will be charged at £35 – up 16% in just a year,

Nick Anderson, 43, of Inverness is one of those who spoke out against the introduction of charges last year and says he is not surprised at the quick hike.

He said: “That is the first I’ve heard that the prices were going up but I suppose that isn’t really a shock as last year we didn’t hear about the prices being introduced until the very last minute.

“Highland Council does not seem to be very forthcoming with information. It is definitely cheeky of the council – with no information released prior to the rise once again.”

Jack Shepherd, a member of the Dingwall Community Council, fears the latest charge could have a serious negative impact.

He said: “I thought that the brown bin charge was always a recipe for more fly tipping, so an increase will be a step too far for some people.

Mr Shepherd questioned whether the implementation of the service could affect elderly people more who do not have the same options.

He said: “My mother has had to wait for a late sticker authorising her bin to be emptied which resulted in her missing two of the council collections.

“This year I would suspect that more people will use the recycling centre due to the poor performance of the Highland Council in issuing the authorisation stickers and the fact that they didn’t get what they paid for last year.”

A council spokeswoman said the increase was agreed in February, adding: “The council had a budget gap of £15.146 million to bridge which has been met by a package of savings which includes increasing council tax income by £3.448 million, increasing income by £3.059 million, reducing expenditure by making savings of £5.1 million, and setting a target of £2.250 million to be saved through redesign.

“The garden waste collection service was originally introduced in 2005 and funded by the Scottish Strategic Waste Fund. It is not a statutory service that Councils have to provide and is now an optional service.

“Householders who do not wish to pay for a garden waste collection can continue to use the council’s network of recycling centres.”