I know that all residents in Harrow care about their local environment, and want our Borough always looking its very best.
This is why the Labour Administration has just started an ambitious campaign to make Harrow the Best London Borough for Recycling by 2017.
Recycling more means that we produce less rubbish and by separating out food and garden collections it costs the Council significantly less money to dispose of its waste, which means we have more money to invest into keeping our Borough clean.
A few weeks ago all residents were sent information about the changes being made to waste collection. I know that some residents have queried the small fee for the opt-in service for the collection of Garden Waste; however the reality is that the Brown Bins for Garden waste were introduced free of charge way back in 2003 and the Council just does not have the money now to carry on providing this service without charging.
Given that the Conservative Government has imposed £83m of cuts on Harrow Council and our residents from 2014 – 2018, we are left with no option but to only continue this service with an opt-in charge, as have over a third of Councils in the country, including our neighbouring Boroughs of Brent & Ealing. There will be a two thirds discount for residents in receipt of Council Tax Support, you can share a bin with a neighbour and have assisted collection for the elderly or disabled.
Having a free weekly collection for food waste and an optional service for the disposal of garden waste will help residents recycle more, whilst also ensuring we are meeting the savings targets that have been imposed on us.
That is why we have started this ambitious campaign to improve recycling rates in our Borough; despite the savings we have to make we will achieve more with less and keep our Borough looking clean and tidy.
