By Bill Heaney

More than £1.9 million has been raised since Glasgow City Council introduced its brown bin permit for the collection of garden waste last October.

Which means that things can only get worse for the residents of West Dunbartonshire no matter who wins the General Election on  Thursday.

Crucified by exponentially rising council tax and a cowardly “maybes aye, maybes naw” on a proposal to hike up the cost of having their brown bins collected,  Labour-controlled West Dunbartonshire Council will hold fire on their much maligned proposal to impose the bin tax.

But they will take heart from the breaking news that from October 1, 2023, Glasgow’s SNP-run local authority introduced a £50 annual charge for the collection of domestic garden waste after the proposals received unanimous support at the budget meeting.

And that it netted them £1.9 million in just 12 months – “Where there’s dirt there’s money,” as one well-known Bonhill businessman used to say.

During a council meeting, Labour councillor, Bailie Patricia Ferguson asked why there was no flexibility in the scheme as some of her constituents needed more than one brown bin to accommodate hedge trimmings.

Bailie Ferguson said: “I would like to put to the convenor if I may, the case of my elderly constituents who have a very large hedge in their garden and that hedge alone has four brown bins.

“At the moment they are being charged £200 to use their brown bins. That seems to me and I hope the convenor would agree, not to be the intention of the scheme.

“When questioned I am advised that it actually is the intention of the scheme. I also have elderly constituents who are receiving pension credit and are very upset because they are worried about whether or not they will be able to use their brown bin.

“Although we can tell them it is not necessary to use their other brown bin, they have no other option so I wonder if some flexibility might be considered as we approach the second year and I would be very happy to discuss this with the convenor if that would be helpful.”

Councillor Ruairi Kelly said that he was always more than happy to discuss any of the council’s policies with any of the members and pointed out that the implementation of the scheme was passed unanimously with no alternatives put forward to remove it in the most recent budget.

He said: “So far [this policy] has raised £1.962 million for the council. If that were to be removed or flexibilities brought into it that would result in us having to find savings equal to what that amount was elsewhere.”

That’s an old Nicola Sturgeon trick when it comes to budgets. When anyone ever asked her for an item to be withdrawn and to hold on to her axe, her response was always the same – “We could do that if you tell us what to replace it with.”

Glasgow agreed to introduce a permit to remove garden waste as part of the 2023/24 budget. The new brown bin permit system began on October 1 last year and the first year is valid until October 30, 2024.

Councillor Kelly added: “An annual charge of £50 is now applicable for each brown bin presented for collection. When applying it is made clear that the full fee is applicable regardless of when the permit is purchased in the year.

“There is no option to pay in instalments due to administrative challenges.

“If the resident doesn’t wish to use a permit, they can continue to use the brown bin for food waste only and that will continue to be collected.”

Martin Docherty Hughes of the SNP and Provost Douglas McAllister, the Labour candidate.

The Democrat is unable to reveal the details of whether that would apply in West Dunbartonshire because the Council won’t talk to us. It’s a secret locked away in their Church Street headquarters safe, one of many secrets which the Labour Council would rather you knew nothing about.

They too have an aversion to criticism and an unhealthy addiction to power.

So, if Provost Douglas McAllister wins the Westminster seat here, Labour will feel safe to  impose the brown bin charge in West Dunbartonshire without facing a backlash from the electorate.

The SNP, of course, were behind many of the detested council budget cuts, including the decision to stop cutting grass in parks and open spaces.

Their candidate, who is the sitting MP, Martin Docherty Hughes, has been getting the criticism of this hot and heavy while out canvassing on the doorsteps of the newly extended West Dunbartonshire parliamentary constituency, which includes Scotstoun and Garscadden.

We recently asked if the SNP would agree to have the ban on The Democrat speaking to council spin doctors and they replied in the negative.

They would prefer that we praised them for their stupidity.

The full list of candidates for West Dunbartonshire is elsewhere in The Dumbarton Democrat.