Angry residents are planning to boycott a garden waste collection service after councillors increased fees by an "extortionate" 33%.
Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has hiked the cost of its annual brown bin service from £45 to £60 - frustrating residents who say their waste is no longer being collected on time.
It comes as Suez Recycling and Recovery UK took over the £152 million refuse contract from Biffa in Ashford, Swale, and Maidstone in March.
But the service has been dogged by problems ever since \- and many brown bin collections have been delayed in recent weeks.
Fees for the fortnightly collection were previously £37.50 in 2020, £40 in 2021 and £42.50 in 2022.
But since June 1, ABC has been charging users £60 for the service on a 12-month rolling contract.
Husband and wife Anthony and Kelly Horn, of Belmore Park off Quantock Drive, say they will be cancelling their contract once their existing bill ends in the autumn.
"I’m not prepared to pay such an extortionate fee, I’d much rather go to the tip to dispose of my waste," Mr Horn, 45, said.
"It’s something I have no problem doing now anyway, but I’m going to be even happier doing it since we’ve been made aware of the new fee.
“Our collections under the new provider have been reliable, which, for £45 and the council tax we pay, you would expect anyway.
"But because of the price increase we are now not going to pay it."
Fees for garden waste collection are not part of council tax charges, but rather an optional and separate invoice.
Residents whose subscription renewal for garden waste was made before June 1 will continue to pay £45 until their contract ends.
After this they will be billed £60 for the next 12 months should they wish to continue having it collected.
Meanwhile, those with a renewal date on, or after, June 1 will have already been charged the new rate even if they renewed before this.
Purchasing a second bin also sets buyers back by £120, although the first is free.
Mersham’s Stephen Hussey, of South Stour Road, says he also plans to stop his garden waste contract in light of the increased fee.
The interior designer said: "Even though it’s a reasonable service for what it does, £60 is certainly pushing the boundaries now.
"It’s just a bin and isn’t collected every week but every fortnight.
“I’m lucky to have an acre-sized plot, so I can stack two-thirds of my garden waste in a corner.
"But I am not going to be renewing it because of this new price."
Homeowners Brian and Carol Fitzmaurice are another couple feeling aggrieved at the new fee.
The pair have lived in Woodbrook, Charing, for 14 years and say the new figure is now bordering on unpayable.
Mrs Fitzmaurice, 75, said: “We renewed the price a few months ago and so will be paying £45 until around Easter.
“We used to share with our neighbour who is 93, but one day the bin wasn’t collected because our house number was on it when she paid for it even though we were sharing.
"If the price stays at £60 by the time it needs to be renewed, then we are probably not planning to pay it.”
ABC’s decision means the borough is now the third most expensive borough in Kent for garden waste collection.
Only residents in Thanet, at £68.25, and Dover at £62.65, pay more in the county.
People living in Canterbury face an annual payment of £57.20, although they don’t see their bins collected for five weeks during the winter.
KentOnline has calculated the pro-rata figure for the equivalent 12 months at £62.40 for its residents.
In a statement, an ABC spokeswoman said the authority “understands” the price hike is “larger than previous years”.
“The garden waste collection service is a discretionary service (not covered by council tax), therefore the council has to pay the contractor for the collection service,” she said.
“When we re-tendered the wider refuse and recycling contract, the cost of collecting garden waste by the contractor increased significantly.
“To enable us to continue to provide this service to residents it was necessary to pass on most of the increase to users of the service.
“We believe the service still represents good value for money and is similar in price with other local authorities across the county.
“As it is a discretionary service it is up to the resident if they want to take part in the service or not.
“Residents can share a garden waste bin with a neighbour to split the cost, or they can decide to take their garden waste to their nearest household waste recycling centre or even compost instead.”
