'We don't want your rubbish': South Woodford gardeners slam Redbridge Council's new paid-for green waste service after free one is cut

In December last year Redbridge Council announced it was cutting its free green waste collection service in a bid to save £2 million.

Gardeners now have to fork out £50 for 50 biodegradable bags, which bin men will pick up every fortnight for six months a year, between April and October.

If gardeners use up all their bags they have to pay for more to be delivered or dispose of them at recycling centres like the one in Chigwell Road.

But the green-fingered population of South Woodford are furious with the new paid-for service, claiming the bags are flimsy, too small, and tear at the first opportunity.

Gardeners in the borough claim the old Redbridge Council garden waste bags were much better

Maggy Farrow, of Mulberry Way, has sent photos of the “rubbish” bags to council leader Jas Athwal and cabinet member for environment John Howard, but is still awaiting a reply.

Comparing them with the old bags, which were much larger and sturdier, she said: “You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out they just don’t work.

“We don’t mind paying for the service, but not this rubbish.

“It’s like buying a chocolate tea pot.”

Cllr Athwal has said the free service had to be cut because the funding the council bagged for it in 2013 had run out.

He said: “If we were to carry on collecting garden waste for free, we would have to subsidise it with council money.

“And at a time where we have to save £42.6 million over the next five years, it was an easy choice to make.”

They also claim the new scheme is causing 'chaotic' congestion at the Chigwell Road recycling centre in South Woodford

But Liberal Democrat Roding Cllr Gwyneth Deakins claims the council’s new garden waste offering is a “shambles”.

She said: “Lots of London boroughs charge their residents for garden waste collection, but they offer a much better service.

“This is a bargain basement deal - fifty bags for six months is nothing.

“When you run out you have to buy more. That’s if they deliver them, which they haven’t to a lot of people.

“Then when the whole bag falls apart people will burn their waste or dump it, two things the council is meant to be trying to stop.”

South Woodford couple Rita and William Sorrell slammed the service as “terrible value for money”.

They claim none of their friends or neighbours have invested in the scheme because “it is so awful”.

Gardening volunteer David Reekie added: “They say they haven’t got the money to run a free service, but they’re spending millions on improving Ilford town centre.

“They save thousands of pounds because volunteers offer to tidy up and garden around George Lane for free.

“Maybe they should think more about that before they say there’s no money for it.”

Conservative Church End Cllr Emma Best claims the new scheme is causing “absolute chaos” the other end of South Woodford and in Woodford Green

She said: “The council hasn’t delivered leaflets explaining the new scheme to a lot of houses.

“People are still waiting for their bags to be delivered, and the ones that have been are flying around all over Woodford.

“Redbridge has some of the worst recycling rates in London and this isn’t helping, the council clearly hasn’t thought it through.”

But a council spokesman denied claims the bags are sub-standard.

They said: “The compostable garden waste bags are of the highest level of thickness and durability for biodegradable material available on the market and are designed for a single use.

“We recommend that residents keep sharp cuttings small in size to avoid puncturing the sides, but naturally some small tears are to be expected on occasion – the bags are sufficiently durable to be taken away by the collection vehicles even if this occurs.”