Council proposes 5% refuse hike in 2007

PROPOSALS have been made by Cork County Council officials to increase refuse charges by 5% next year, the first time it has upped charges in two years.

Meanwhile, water charges and the cost of graves are also to be increased.

The council hasn’t increased its waste charges since 2005, when they were fixed at €120 for collection and 47 cents per kilo of waste disposed of. The 5% increase will apply to both collection and weight charges.

Councillors were informed yesterday at a pre-budget meeting in Clonakilty, that kerbside collections of dry recyclables will be extended to West Cork next year, completing the county roll-out.

Advertisements seeking service-providers have already gone out and the closing date for receipt of tenders will be Thursday, January 11, 2007.

Assistant county manager Theresa White said: “The council waste collection service offers excellent value for money and the charge is reasonable. The increase of 5% effectively over a two-year period is the minimum required to maintain the standard of service.”

The Derryconnell landfill site, near Schull, will remain operational until next September and after that will be converted to a waste transfer station and recycling centre. In future all waste which can’t be recycled will be sent to the new superdump at Bottlehill.

Plans are also being made to create waste transfers stations and recycling centres at Bantry, Dunmanway and Skibbereen.

During next year all non-domestic properties will have water meters installed. A 6% increase in water charges is proposed and the charge for new connections will increase from €650 to €680.

The Tenant Purchase Scheme will continue with the price of Local Authority houses based on market value, less a tenancy discount of 3% per annum, to a maximum 30%.

The minimum weekly rent will increase from €19 to €20, while the minimum rent for mobile homes will be €10.

Ms White, said that people in private rented accommodation in receipt of rent allowance for more than 18 months are now deemed to have a long-term housing need and they will now become the responsibility of the local authority.

In West Cork the cost of a single grave is to increase from €700 to €750. The cost of a permit for erecting a headstone will be €30.

Similar percentage increases are planned for north and south Cork. Grave spaces in the council’s south Cork division are more expensive, especially in new cemeteries, because land there is more costly.

Meanwhile, the council announced that it is to introduce a new beach guard service in Tragumna.

The income limit for the shared ownership scheme had been increased from €36,800 to €40,000 for single applicants and from €92,000 to €100,000 for joint applicants.

A Traveller Accommodation Programme has been set up in the West Cork region and the target is to provide 30 homes by 2008.

Grants of up to 75% of the cost, up to a limit of €2,031, are to be provided to home owners to drill their own wells, where it is not practical to connect to a public water main and where the house is over seven years old.

Cllr Paddy Sheehan said that development of houses is being stifled in West Cork because of inadequate sewerage treatment systems, especially in small towns and villages. Ms White said an audit was being undertaken throughout the region and that money was being set aside for major upgrading.

The setting of new charges for waste, water etc will be fixed at a full meeting of the council in County Hall on December 7.