A Hertfordshire politician has accused a council of introducing “tax, tax and more tax” over a plan to charge for garden waste in Hertsmere.

The borough council has agreed to end its free green bin rounds and will charge gardeners a £50 fee for collection, due to start in April 2024.

The authority’s neighbours each run their own opt-in, chargeable garden waste collections – with prices ranging from £50 per year in Watford and Welwyn Hatfield to £80 in the London Borough of Harrow.

Council leaders have said the changes will help them deal with “uncertainty” around Westminster’s “seven bins” law – a policy which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed to have scrapped in a speech on Wednesday, September 20.

At a meeting on the same day as the speech, Conservative councillor Seamus Quilty, who represents Bushey Heath, said: “Tax, tax and more tax.

“That’s the message from the leader of the Liberal Democrats, from Bushey.

“For 17 years, the Conservative administration collected green bins without a charge.

“Now, the Liberal-Labour coalition and administration want to tax the residents of Bushey and the whole of Hertsmere to collect their bins.”

Cllr Caroline Clapper, Conservative councillor for Aldenham West, said she feared a “significant increase in organic waste ending up in landfills” if residents choose not take part in composting programmes.

She said this could “exacerbate environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and soil contamination”.

Although Hertsmere Borough Council wants to charge for garden waste, it will launch a free food waste collection – due in April 2025.

Each house will be given a small food caddy for the kitchen, and a large food caddy for the outdoors, along with biodegradable caddy liners.

The £50 charge would be reduced to £35 for households which receive council tax support.

It will cost a one-off £863,000 to introduce the service.

The garden waste fee is likely to bring in £870,000 each year, a council report said.