The chairman of Strabane District Council in Northern Ireland has initiated an attack on ratepayers claiming their reluctance to recycle has lead to spiralling rate bills.
Councillor Gerard Foley also revealed the council has had to slow down a number of projects to stop rate bills soaring due to the mounting costs of rubbish disposal.
Residents in the Strabane district recycle just over 5% of all waste - compared to the Northern Ireland average of 30%.
Mr Foley spoke out after a new district rate rise of 6.47% was agreed on for Strabane.
The new domestic district rate for 2008/09 will be £3.1274 for every £1,000 that a ratepayer’s home is worth on the open market. The new non-domestic district rate meanwhile is 21.282p in the pound, also an increase of 6.47%.
Mr Foley said it was time for local people to improve their attitudes to recycling.
“Quite simply, it is costing us a fortune to send all the black bin rubbish to landfill sites,” he said.
“These costs have risen 2000% since 1997 and in 2008/09 almost £2.5m of our budget goes towards the costs of managing our district’s waste.
“We need the public to help us out, play their part and recycle more.”
Whilst the council unveiled plans to launch a recycling centre in Newtownstewart, Mr Foley commented: ” Regrettably, some of our developmental plans for the district have been put on hold to keep the rates increase as low as possible.
“This year’s rate will allow us to maintain the current level of council services and fund the rising costs of waste management. That’s it.
The council had ruled out any non-essential expenditure.
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