Falkirk residents to pay for garden waste collection and special uplifts

Falkirk residents will have to pay for garden waste collection and special uplifts in a shake-up that will also see the council's environmental enforcement team being axed. The new charges were agreed at a meeting of Falkirk Council' s executive on Tuesday, although Independent councillor Robert Spears said he feared they could become "a fly-tippers' charter."

Director of place services, Malcolm Bennie, said that charges for garden waste and special uplifts are common throughout Scotland and there was no reason to suppose they would not work in Falkirk. Councillor Iain Sinclair, the SNP spokesperson on climate change, said he recognised councillors were being asked to take "difficult and unpopular decisions" but added: "our role is to ensure that services continue to be delivered."

However, the charges won't be as much as first proposed. The annual fee for brown bin collections in Falkirk will be £25, rather than £35 as originally proposed (£12.50 for those on eligible benefits).