People in Trafford will once again have to pay if they want their green bin emptying

A deadline for applications has been set

A Trafford green bin

Trafford residents will once more have to pay if they want their garden waste collected.

The council is now taking subscriptions for the coming year. Residents will have to apply by Friday, May 15, to receive their permit for when the service goes live on Monday, June 1.

The cost remains the same as last year at £50 – reduced to £45 for those who pay online. Without a permit, garden waste will not be collected.

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The subscription was launched last year in the face of Trafford council’s growing financial concerns. At the time, bosses said the charge brought the authority into line with other councils and was part of its budget plans to maintain essential services for vulnerable adults, children and families.

Despite this, financial woes at the town hall have persisted. This year’s budget saw council tax rise by 7.49 per cent for the second year in a row after leaders were given special dispensation from the Government to increase the fee by more than the typical 4.99pc referendum limit.

The council also signed off on £12.65m in borrowing to help stave off the risk of effective bankruptcy.

The introduction of the new charge did not go without a hitch last year, with residents in Timperley demanding a refund after their bins went unemptied for a month over the summer. Residents slammed the missed collections as ‘unacceptable’ when they were having to pay extra for them.

The council said of this year’s fee that it aimed to ‘keep the subscription charge as low as possible’, with the discounted rate offered to encourage more people to apply online. This helps the authority keep admin costs down.

Residents who might struggle to pay their subscription charge online can pop into their local library where library assistants are able to help them with the application.

Stephen Adshead, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Highways, Environmental and Traded Services, said: “Whether renewing or signing up for the first time, I encourage residents who want to subscribe to do so before the 15 May deadline so they don’t miss any weekly collections. Residents who sign up online through the Council’s customer portal can quickly manage their garden waste subscription and access other services, including reporting missed bins or requesting free compostable bags for food waste.

“I also want to reassure residents that we will continue to empty food waste on a weekly basis and we will not introduce charges for any other domestic waste collections.”