Less than a third of Moray residents have signed up for a new bin permit launched to help plug a blackhole in the council’s finances.
The divisive passes were created due to the authority no longer being willing to collect garden waste free of charge – instead opting to introduce an annual £36 levy.
Now it has been revealed that just 30% of households in the region forked out for the service ahead of last week’s deadline to have it in place for when the new brown bin collections begin in April.
The low uptake will generate about £480,000 to help balance the council’s books – about £200,000 less than was forecast in the budget.
But last night council leader Graham Leadbitter stressed it was early days for the scheme and he expected the total to rise through the year.
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He said: “At the moment we’re on target to achieve the income for the permit that we are looking for – considering it’s a brand new scheme and it’s only been available for seven weeks.
“To get to that level in that time is really excellent and demonstrates that the public recognise that it is good value for money for a service that the council doesn’t have an obligation to provide.
“Obviously the income we receive from this will go a long way to help protect the other services that we provide and people rely on.”
Mr Leadbitter added: “The experience of other councils is that the uptake is generally about 50%.”
Public toilet closed by Moray Council to cut costs to be re-opened
The garden waste permits, stickers which can be attached to bins, were agreed by councillors as part of budget plans to plug a £15 million funding gap.
Despite 13,400 homes agreeing to pay for brown bin permits, the proposals provoked a furious reaction from residents when they were first publicised by the council in January.
Updates from the council explaining that they would refuse to collect bins from homes that have not paid for permits have also attracted derision.
The authority has said that rubbish will be checked to ensure that no households circumvent the charge.
Residents inundated the council’s social media sites to complain about the extra charge when brown bins that are used solely for food will continue to be collected free of charge.
Meggie Croudace posted: “What’s the difference in picking up brown bin with food waste and picking up food waste and garden waste – still to be collected at the end of the day.”
Leanne Ross wrote: “I can’t see how this is going to make money for the council once the cost of sending letters to everyone, administering the permits, checking them and chasing up people for fines.”
The new charge has also prompted groups, including Lhanbrdye Gardening Club, to run classes for locals on how to compost at home to avoid having to pay the fee.
