Residents will pay more for bulky waste collection if Southwark approves plans to increase the fee from £25 to £35.
The council is recommending the pricier bulky waste charge in its yearly budget as it tries to balance the books amid rising inflation.
It’s a useful source of revenue for the council, bringing in about £1.2 million between 2015 and 2021.
The charges are not yet confirmed and will have to be approved by the council’s cabinet later this month.
Southwark Soapbox: should the council scrap the bulky waste charge to stop fly-tippers?
Southwark Council has long argued that the charge is fair and comparable to other London boroughs. Its current £25 charge if or up to 10 items.
Lambeth charges £31.78 to collect 1 to 3 items and £52.28 for 4 to 6 items. In Lewisham, it’s £20 for every four items except for fridges and freezers, which cost £30 for collection.
Critics say charging people to dispose of their large waste encourages fly-tipping, and is unfair during a cost-of-living crisis.
In 2021, Southwark was revealed as the eleventh-worst local authority for fly-tipping.
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The council has previously said it ranks highly because it logs all fly-tipping, not just incidents reported by the public.
In December 2021, Southwark Lib Dems put forward a motion to scrap the bulky waste charge altogether.
While participating in Southwark News’ Soapbox show, local Lib Dem candidate James Gurling said people would “work with the system”, if the fee was scrapped.
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“If fly-tipping is an issue you want to tackle, charging for its removal is not going to help, particularly as times get harder and people’s available cash gets lower,” he said.
Lib Dems have argued against the latest proposed increase and still say, in the long-term, they’d like to see it scrapped altogether.
Southwark Liberal Democrats Leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain said: “Increasing waste collection fees at this time will only exacerbate the fly-tipping chaos we already suffer from and hurt the poorest residents hardest.
“It will also cost the Council even more in the long run when we’re having to clean up even more fly tipping from our streets.”
Southwark Council has been approached for comment.
