Residents braced for refuse charge hike

AS workers at a CoWaterford landfill prepare to wind down the operation, householders are bracing themselves for a record hike in refuse charges.

Tramore landfill, which has served the region since 1935, will close its gates for the last time on December 31. All refuse from the region will in future have to be transported to Carlow at an estimated cost of €700,000 per annum.

Added to the €7 million charge for capping the Tramore landfill, this will put the county council under immense financial pressure, it has admitted.

It is also capping its other landfill in Dungarvan, at a further cost of €3m.

It is widely expected that a flat fee per household of €140 per annum - on top of bin tag charges - will be announced next week.

It is also anticipated that charges for collecting dry recyclable material, refuse and composting material will increase significantly.

The 19,000 waste customers in Waterford pay €13 per wheelie bin lift. That is expected to edge towards €20, while compost waste charges could spiral from €7.50 to up to €10 and recycling bags are expected to jump in cost from €2.25 towards €4.

Waterford County Council senior engineer in environment Paul Daly first warned of the hikes last April, saying the cost of capping the two landfills would put the council under major pressure.

The council’s head of finance, Michael Quinn, said last week that the council is obliged to present a balanced budget and has to have regard to the polluter pays principle.

After Tramore Town Council’s meeting on Tuesday night, town manager Brian White said the hikes are no surprise.

“It has been widely anticipated and known that increased waste charges will be included in the budget on December 15,” he said.

Environment Minister Dick Roche has refused to say whether he would give the council money to meet the one-off remediation costs at its two landfills. He said it was unfortunate that a council with such a track record for recycling would have to incur such a cost.

Fine Gael’s John Deasy wants to delay the hikes until the State gives a clear decision on meeting the €10m bill. “Waterford County Council has gone about the management of waste in a reasonable manner”, he said.