Councillors stunned by refuse fee plans

STUNNED county councillors in Waterford say they can not support proposals to double refuse charges in the region, as is proposed by the local authority to meet its spiralling debts.

The first some councillors knew of the proposal to almost double refuse charges across county Waterford to €23 per wheelie bin lift was when it was revealed in yesterday’s exclusive story in the Irish Examiner, according to Sinn Féin councillor Brendan Mansfield.

County Waterford’s landfill will close before the end of this year and waste from 19,000 householders across the county will have to be transported to Carlow.

The council also has to come up with €10 million to line two old landfills in the county and has spent €30m on a highly successful recycling drive.

Refuse charges will have to increase dramatically, or business rates across the county will double, according to senior engineering in environment, Paul Daly. The cost of the €52m debt from the service will have to be met, he added. Councillors now want government intervention and a financial lifeline for the cash-strapped local authority.

But Mr Mansfield said the first many of the councillors and locals knew of the proposed hikes was when the Irish Examiner broke the story yesterday.

“When the new book of estimates comes out at the end of the year, we will find it very hard to support these proposed charges,” the councillor added.

Fine Gael councillor Paudie Coffey said the hikes proposed are an abuse of the polluter pays principle. He said Waterford is in a crisis situation, having to fork out €10m to line its existing landfills. He said the continuing delay in plans to open the new landfill are also putting pressure on the local authority.

And he added that the situation is not helped by the increased costs because of staffing. “It’s gone beyond breaking point at this stage. I voted for the last estimates, based on the polluter pays principle. But we have gone beyond saturation point now,” he said.