A LOCAL councillor and a concerned local resident have joined forces to campaign against a new "Garden Tax", which they say is being brought in by the Conservatives on Mid Devon District Council.

Cllr Bob Wright, Liberal Democrat Mid Devon District Councillor for Crediton's Lawrence ward, explained that from October next year, residents in the district will only get their wheelie bin emptied if they pay £50-a-year to have their garden waste collected.

"People who do not wish to pay the £50 will either have to compost all their garden waste themselves or take it to Punchbowl Recycling Centre, in the case of local residents.

"This will obviously be awkward for everyone.

"The amount of green waste produced by even a small garden can be substantial and not everyone has the space for a composter and how will the elderly and those without cars get to Punchbowl?

"In our opinion this policy will result in more fly-tipping in our beautiful countryside.

"Rubbish is increasingly dumped in gateways and over hedges – we have all seen a significant escalation in this anti-social practice in our area since the introduction of charges for some items taken to Punchbowl."

Mr Wright described the move being introduced by the Conservatives as "a sneaky way of increasing the Council Tax".

He continued: "The government set a limit of a two-per-cent increase on the Council Tax per year for District Council's and this is just a backdoor way of increasing it."

Mr Wright explained that the current brown bins will be re-used for residual/landfill waste and that a new "green" bin will be for garden waste. Households will also receive a smaller caddy for kitchen waste.

He said that MDDC expects to make a loss with the new system in the first year because it will have to pay for the new bins, etc but that from year two it hopes to raise £500,000.

Mr Wright and his fellow campaigner, Tim Stanford of Chapel Downs Road, Crediton, have hand-delivered petitions to every household in Lawrence ward asking people to sign against the "Garden Tax".

The petition also reads: "This is an important service for residents and we call on the council to remove the charge."

Copies of the petition are available to sign in a number of shops and businesses in Crediton.

If you would like a copy of the petition to sign, please contact Bob on 01363 773566 or email: [email protected]">[email protected]