Lancashire MP "flabbergasted" by fee to provide new homes with wheelie bins

Having been contacted by a number of residents from new estates. Mrs Cooper has written to the council asking what their policy is on the provision of bins, saying when she telephoned, "no one knew the answer".

Mrs Cooper has claimed a bin costs close to £100, but the council say it is £25 - and put the onus on developers to meet the costs.

Mrs Cooper said: “I am flabbergasted that residents are approaching me to complain about the council charging nearly £100 just to get refuse bins for their property.

“With ever increasing council tax bills, the least that a resident moving into a new build should expect is the provision of their wheelie bins.

“I called the office of the Corporate Director of Place and Community at the Council to clarify whether new build homes do receive free bins or not. Astoundingly, no one knew the answer!

“The green waste charge remains a major bone of contention for many of my constituents, but to not even be providing the standard grey bin or the blue and green recycling bins is crazy – what incentive is this for the council’s recycling targets?

“West Lancashire Borough Council need to get a grip of this situation quickly. They need to be clear about their policy and either supply new properties with the bins, or negotiate with developers to ensure they are supplied.”

A spokesman for West Lancashire Borough Council said: "The £25 charge for a new bin covers the cost of the bin, the cost of delivery and associated administrative charges and has applied since 2014.

"Whilst it may be desirable for developers to fund new bins, this is a rarity and developers typically leave it to residents to resolve once they've moved in.

"Despite significant cuts to our budget by central government, we have kept the price of purchasing a new bin as low as we possibly can while minimising the cost passed onto council tax payers.

"We would also appeal to our MP for West Lancashire to continue to fight for more funding from central government in light of these cuts to alleviate the pressure on local authority budgets.