Staffordshire tip charges: Hundreds of people sign petition against controversial fees

More than 600 people have signed a petition opposing Staffordshire County Council's new fees at its household waste centres in less than a week.

The new fees mean people now have to pay £3 to dump a bag of soil or rubble, including items such as slabs, tiles and sinks.

A £4 charge has also been brought in for a sheet of plasterboard and single tyres.

The fees were brought in at centres across the county, including at Cannock, Rugeley, Stafford, Stone, Lichfield and Wombourne on November 1.

But the contentious move has prompted criticism and concerns that fly-tipping will increase.

South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson is among those to voice opposition branding the fees 'ridiculous'.

And Staffordshire Green Party-leader Paul Woodhead has chosen to fight the council on the issue.

He has launched a petition calling on the council to scrap the new waste charges claiming they were introduced with no consultation and will shift cost on to district councils which will have to foot any bill to clean up fly-tipping in their area. More than 600 people have signed it in less than a week with the target to gain 5,000 signatures to prompt a full council debate.

Mr Woodhead told the Express & Star: "It shows how much people care for the wellbeing of their environment and highlights how unpopular these charges are and the level of community discomfort around them. It is the fact this relates to household waste which we pay our taxes for in the first place.

"This is household waste which we pay our taxes for in the first place.

"The fact that this was done with no consultation or discussion just shows the degree of desperation at the council trying to force this through."

Mr Woodhead, who represents Hednesford on Cannock Chase District Council, added: "It is a real concern that this will cause fly-tipping which the district council's have to pick up.

"It will be be more expensive to clear away rubbish at the side of the road than the cost of processing it when people have taken it to the tip." It comes after the county's Green Party leader launched another campaign last year which gained more than 11,000 backers opposing any potential sell-off of the council's countryside estate portfolio including the likes of Chasewater.

The petition against tip charges is found by searching 'Scrap the Staffordshire Tip Tax' at 38degrees.org.uk

Asked about the reaction at household waste recycling centres since the charges were introduced, Councillor Gill Heath, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for Communities and the Environment, said:

"A few people have told us they disagree, but others accept why we're doing this and that it only applies to very specific types of non-household waste.

"I think it's important to be clear – we're not talking about charging for hedge cuttings, or a couple of pruned tree branches, we're not talking about charging for a mattress, electrical goods, or a piece of furniture – we're talking about rubble, or large amounts of soil, we're talking about sinks and toilets, or plasterboard walls – and if you think about what we're actually talking about it's clear that even people who use recycling centres regularly will only take this sort of waste now and again."

On flytipping, she added: "These charges are for individual householders – not trade - and it's important to remember that this is the sort of waste that most people won't have from one year end to the next.

"We will liaise with district and borough councils to monitor the situation, but the simple fact is that fly-tipping is illegal and we do not believe charges of £3 or £4 for a large bag that can hold up to 20 kgs - or three stones - of waste will encourage people to break the law."