Pressure is growing on Haringey Council to scrap its controversial charges for the collection of bulky rubbish, such as old fridges and other large items. Local residents are still responding to a Lib Dem petition on the issue, and a new set of signatures was being handed to Haringey Council today from those demanding an end to the charge.

Lib Dems say that partly because of the charges, large items such as old fridges and other large waste litter the borough’s streets. Lynne Featherstone has labelled the policy a false economy, as it results in the unscrupulous dumping of these large items – with Haringey having to foot the bill anyway as they have to clear up the mess. The Labour-run council has recently admitted to Lib Dem councillors that demand for collections of bulky rubbish have declined by almost 75% since the introduction of the charges.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Haringey needs to recognise its policy is not working, and is leading to more dumping in the area. Any revenue the Council gains is cancelled out by the extra fly-tipping.”

Cllr Wayne Hoban adds:

“This is also a financial issue for local people. Some residents can not afford bulk collections and others resent having to fork out extra when they believe this should be covered by the Council Tax.”