Stop using weedkiller, do no-mow-may, put bird seed out and stop using slug pellets and then yes by all means. Cut a hole in your fence for hedgehogs, put a ramp in your pond etc.
A chemical controlled lawn endlessly sprayed with weedkiller is worse for wildlife than concrete.
“Full of plants” isnt good for wildlife. Are they native plants? Are they foodplants for rare caterpillars or dandelions that are the earliest source of nectar for bees?
Its better to get people to change what they think of as weeds, than just say fill a garden with plants.
Weeds is fashion, weeds are native plants that thrive here. Very few are actual weeds.
Ragwort? – food plant for the cinnabar moth.
Dandelions – earliest source of nectar
Brambles – good habitat and food for birds.
The native things that grow here are good for our creatures.
Theres no such thing as a weedkiller or slug killer. Poison is just poison.
Do I get a council tax cut because I can’t afford a garden?
And what about younger people and the less well off who have to live in flats and can’t have a garden? This is a tax break for better-off homeowners.
Maybe my boomer energy hasn’t fully developed yet but i’ve never seen the point of a mono-cultured patch of Saturday morning work.
If it has to remain as grass i hope the tax cut covers the cost of hiring someone to cut it for me.
Oh yeah finally a use for the huge surplus in council budgets!
Personally I think it should be “Britons who put down astroturf should get a council tax rise”
They instead get to pay more to have their brown bin collected.
Ah yes, what a throwback to Covid times, when guidance assumed “everyone” lived in nice family detached houses with a garden.
I live in a block of flats that’s only 2 stories (4 flats per section, 3 sections). We share a massive sloped garden with trees and stuff (it would be amazing if it was a flat garden).
Do we all get a reduction in this instance then? Is it based on area of garden kept trimmed? Will the council be sending people round to inspect or audit the garden?
Good news for all the houses near me with four-foot tall grass that’s gone to seed and a jungle of nettles
At the very least, they shouldn’t have to pay extra for a green bin!
Also swapping grass lawns for wild flowers would be pretty sweet. An incentive for people to not mow would be great in general.
I’d be happy if they just made the green waste bin free
Can we not scrap council tax and replace with a more progressive tax instead?
“Green” seems a bit vague. Lawns are terrible for the environment. I can’t bring myself to argue against anything that’s good for the environment but lawns shouldn’t count towards it.
Such a stupid idea. Not just the idea of the discount but the administration of it.
I work in Council Tax, The admin for this would be a fucking nightmare and loads of crusty old homeowners are going to complain about not getting it or not getting enough.
I am literally the only house on my street which has tailored the garden for wildlife. I only have a small city garden but with my tree, my feeding stations and my fish pond I see an absolutely staggering array of birds visiting every day. Would I welcome a council tax cut for my efforts? Sure, but I wouldn’t have my garden any other way.
Long grass and wildflowers is even more beneficial to the environment than plain, short-cut lawns. Boosts bio-diversity by providing much needed shelter and food supplies to more species.
What a fucking stupid idea.
Lawns are ecological deserts for wildlife and they use huge amounts of water to maintain. From a climate change perspective this is entirely the opposite to what we should be encouraging.
I don’t really have a garden, standard around here to have just a small paved yard and access to a communal alley out the back.
Still have covered the lot in potted plants and let the native weeds grow through around the edges, we have dozens of plant species now and so many insects, worms and snails.
I’d rather keep paying my tax amount and the money go directly to help other people get garden areas started in whatever space they have.
Aren’t Lawns pretty crap compared to just letting the area grow wild, or similar?
Britons who plant a diverse selection of wildflowers and promote wildlife and insect habitats in their gardens rather than keep a pointless ugly monoculture should get a council tax cut, I suggest.
Can I just not pay the bullshit annual subscription for my garden waste bin?
I had a neighour who had a very green garden. They frequently was out killing weeds and insects to keep their manicured garden perfect. Not very environmentally friendly.
I live in a through terrace and have a mostly paved yard but one flower bed and one vegetable bed where there is sun, and a lot of ferns and bonsai trees in pots. Does that count as green space? We compost everything and keep the ancient hedge at the back in good condition, it’s a thriving habitat. But it isn’t grass, and there isn’t much. Thyme and stonecrop between the pavers, we do what we can with what we have.
If you think anyones getting a tax break for mowing the lawns they already mow you are thicker than the average reddit user.
Alternative would be to go the other way and disincentivise people by making it more expensive to astroturf or pave over your garden. But that’s when you find out that half of Tory MPs have undeclared interests in astroturf and paving companies. Alas.
i think this is a good idea. my place was fully paved when i moved in. tbh even a slight incentive would move it up my list of priorities to lift all the flagging and convert to grass and wild flowers. Current plan is to just lift 1 or 2 as needed to plant stuff but not bother with grass.
This would be excellent. Its really shocking the amount of people just concreting over their gardens, or worse, putting down astroturf- which really should be banned outside of hockey fields.
Just grass isn’t particularly eco-friendly. Plant a wildflower garden. Currently renovating a house we moved into last Summer, but once the interior is done we’ll be replacing the lawn with creeping thyme (and other wildflowers)
Let’s not conflate grass with being good for the environment. A short cut overly maintained monoculture isn’t beneficial to the environment or the wildlife.
Wild gardens perhaps but not by offering discounts to those that do, but by increasing it for those that have gardens but don’t in order to be fair to people without gardens.
Another tory party false promise to garner the older vote again, just like vaccines.
Homeowners with gardens, use council refuse facilities far more than flat owners in general with all their green garden waste, charge them more.
Caught two Essex ladies fly tipping their old fencing and garden waste in our road because the local tip was closed.
I was going along my childhood home the other day. So many of the gardens I remember playing in as a kid are now paved over. Not all for parking either some are decorative in getting rid of nature. There’s one house nearby that has a front lawn full of wild flowers. It looks a bit messy when not in bloom like it is now but it’s so much better for nature
Cancelling the brown bin (garden tax) collection charge my local council brought in a couple of years ago would be a good start.
Alas, we are charged £39 a year to get rid of the garden waste, that the council then sells as compost…
Despite the fact that over maintained gardens are bad for ecological and environmental reasons.
Or maybe the tiny gardens most Britons have, should be the least of our countries worries.
Basically we should do the exact opposite, rather than give tax cuts to people who have more green space add extra tax for people who have large paved areas. A good old patio tax!
38 comments
Abso-fucking-lutely not.
green isnt eco.
Stop using weedkiller, do no-mow-may, put bird seed out and stop using slug pellets and then yes by all means. Cut a hole in your fence for hedgehogs, put a ramp in your pond etc.
A chemical controlled lawn endlessly sprayed with weedkiller is worse for wildlife than concrete.
“Full of plants” isnt good for wildlife. Are they native plants? Are they foodplants for rare caterpillars or dandelions that are the earliest source of nectar for bees?
Its better to get people to change what they think of as weeds, than just say fill a garden with plants.
Weeds is fashion, weeds are native plants that thrive here. Very few are actual weeds.
Ragwort? – food plant for the cinnabar moth.
Dandelions – earliest source of nectar
Brambles – good habitat and food for birds.
The native things that grow here are good for our creatures.
Theres no such thing as a weedkiller or slug killer. Poison is just poison.
Do I get a council tax cut because I can’t afford a garden?
And what about younger people and the less well off who have to live in flats and can’t have a garden? This is a tax break for better-off homeowners.
Maybe my boomer energy hasn’t fully developed yet but i’ve never seen the point of a mono-cultured patch of Saturday morning work.
If it has to remain as grass i hope the tax cut covers the cost of hiring someone to cut it for me.
Oh yeah finally a use for the huge surplus in council budgets!
Personally I think it should be “Britons who put down astroturf should get a council tax rise”
They instead get to pay more to have their brown bin collected.
Ah yes, what a throwback to Covid times, when guidance assumed “everyone” lived in nice family detached houses with a garden.
I live in a block of flats that’s only 2 stories (4 flats per section, 3 sections). We share a massive sloped garden with trees and stuff (it would be amazing if it was a flat garden).
Do we all get a reduction in this instance then? Is it based on area of garden kept trimmed? Will the council be sending people round to inspect or audit the garden?
Good news for all the houses near me with four-foot tall grass that’s gone to seed and a jungle of nettles
At the very least, they shouldn’t have to pay extra for a green bin!
Also swapping grass lawns for wild flowers would be pretty sweet. An incentive for people to not mow would be great in general.
I’d be happy if they just made the green waste bin free
Can we not scrap council tax and replace with a more progressive tax instead?
“Green” seems a bit vague. Lawns are terrible for the environment. I can’t bring myself to argue against anything that’s good for the environment but lawns shouldn’t count towards it.
Such a stupid idea. Not just the idea of the discount but the administration of it.
I work in Council Tax, The admin for this would be a fucking nightmare and loads of crusty old homeowners are going to complain about not getting it or not getting enough.
I am literally the only house on my street which has tailored the garden for wildlife. I only have a small city garden but with my tree, my feeding stations and my fish pond I see an absolutely staggering array of birds visiting every day. Would I welcome a council tax cut for my efforts? Sure, but I wouldn’t have my garden any other way.
Long grass and wildflowers is even more beneficial to the environment than plain, short-cut lawns. Boosts bio-diversity by providing much needed shelter and food supplies to more species.
What a fucking stupid idea.
Lawns are ecological deserts for wildlife and they use huge amounts of water to maintain. From a climate change perspective this is entirely the opposite to what we should be encouraging.
I don’t really have a garden, standard around here to have just a small paved yard and access to a communal alley out the back.
Still have covered the lot in potted plants and let the native weeds grow through around the edges, we have dozens of plant species now and so many insects, worms and snails.
I’d rather keep paying my tax amount and the money go directly to help other people get garden areas started in whatever space they have.
Aren’t Lawns pretty crap compared to just letting the area grow wild, or similar?
Britons who plant a diverse selection of wildflowers and promote wildlife and insect habitats in their gardens rather than keep a pointless ugly monoculture should get a council tax cut, I suggest.
Can I just not pay the bullshit annual subscription for my garden waste bin?
I had a neighour who had a very green garden. They frequently was out killing weeds and insects to keep their manicured garden perfect. Not very environmentally friendly.
I live in a through terrace and have a mostly paved yard but one flower bed and one vegetable bed where there is sun, and a lot of ferns and bonsai trees in pots. Does that count as green space? We compost everything and keep the ancient hedge at the back in good condition, it’s a thriving habitat. But it isn’t grass, and there isn’t much. Thyme and stonecrop between the pavers, we do what we can with what we have.
If you think anyones getting a tax break for mowing the lawns they already mow you are thicker than the average reddit user.
Alternative would be to go the other way and disincentivise people by making it more expensive to astroturf or pave over your garden. But that’s when you find out that half of Tory MPs have undeclared interests in astroturf and paving companies. Alas.
i think this is a good idea. my place was fully paved when i moved in. tbh even a slight incentive would move it up my list of priorities to lift all the flagging and convert to grass and wild flowers. Current plan is to just lift 1 or 2 as needed to plant stuff but not bother with grass.
This would be excellent. Its really shocking the amount of people just concreting over their gardens, or worse, putting down astroturf- which really should be banned outside of hockey fields.
Just grass isn’t particularly eco-friendly. Plant a wildflower garden. Currently renovating a house we moved into last Summer, but once the interior is done we’ll be replacing the lawn with creeping thyme (and other wildflowers)
Let’s not conflate grass with being good for the environment. A short cut overly maintained monoculture isn’t beneficial to the environment or the wildlife.
Wild gardens perhaps but not by offering discounts to those that do, but by increasing it for those that have gardens but don’t in order to be fair to people without gardens.
Another tory party false promise to garner the older vote again, just like vaccines.
Homeowners with gardens, use council refuse facilities far more than flat owners in general with all their green garden waste, charge them more.
Caught two Essex ladies fly tipping their old fencing and garden waste in our road because the local tip was closed.
I was going along my childhood home the other day. So many of the gardens I remember playing in as a kid are now paved over. Not all for parking either some are decorative in getting rid of nature. There’s one house nearby that has a front lawn full of wild flowers. It looks a bit messy when not in bloom like it is now but it’s so much better for nature
Cancelling the brown bin (garden tax) collection charge my local council brought in a couple of years ago would be a good start.
Alas, we are charged £39 a year to get rid of the garden waste, that the council then sells as compost…
Despite the fact that over maintained gardens are bad for ecological and environmental reasons.
Or maybe the tiny gardens most Britons have, should be the least of our countries worries.
Basically we should do the exact opposite, rather than give tax cuts to people who have more green space add extra tax for people who have large paved areas. A good old patio tax!