Costs to dispose of fridges and furniture set to treble in Walsall borough

Town hall chiefs said the lowest cost of collecting large items such as unwanted fridges, freezers or furniture would rise significantly from £10 to £30 from next month.

Walsall Council said the decision had not been taken lightly, but it needed to recover more of the cost of providing the service which was used by more than 150,000 residents last year.

But the increase has been slammed by opposition Labour group leader Councillor Matt Ward who called it a ‘short-sighted’ move and warned it would result in increased fly-tipping when the borough was already battling to tackle the problem.

Each item collected is given a point value with smaller items given a single point and larger items rated two or three.

Under the new structure from February 5, throwing out up to three bulky items will rise from £10 to £30.

Options for more than three items to be collected per visit are also being introduced for the first time to give people the chance to get rid of an increased number of unwanted goods. Those charges will be £50 for nine-six point items and £70 for seven-nine point items. Residents can book a collection between 6.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Walsall's Street Pride cabinet holder Councillor Kerry Murphy said: “This is a really useful service for residents and one that is used frequently. There have been over 15,000 bookings of this service in the last year.

“We understand the impact this price increase may have on our residents and while this has not been an easy decision, it is crucial for us to ensure the ongoing delivery of the bulky waste collection service. We have carefully reviewed our options and believe that this revised tariff strikes the right balance between affordability and financial sustainability.

“We value the input of our residents and encourage them to share their comments and concerns regarding this change. Their feedback allows us to continuously improve our services and better serve our community.”

Walsall spends around £880,000 clearing up fly-tipping and rubbish off borough streets per year.

Councillor Ward said: “I think this is a very short-sighted proposed income generator which could result in actually costing the taxpayers more money.

“People are already struggling with a cost of living crisis. This move could push people to use cheaper unlicensed operators which results in items being fly tipped, or see residents leaving items out on the footpaths. I fear our streets will be plagued with more fly-tipping.”