SUBSCRIPTIONS for the garden waste service in St Helens are open - with fees having gone up again to £42.50 this year.

The increase for 2024 amounts to £2.50 extra and follows the trend of the price increasing year-on-year since the council began charging in 2017.

Collections will run from Monday, March 4, 2024 to Friday, December 6 2024. 

Permits will be posted out in the week commencing February 5, 2024.

When introduced in 2017 (replacing a service that had been free of charge) it cost £30 online or £35 over the phone in 2017, £31 online, or £36 over the phone in 2018, £32 online or £37 over the phone in 2019, £35 in 2020, £37 in 2021, £39 in 2022, and £40 in 2023.

'Non-statutory service'

Speaking last year about the reasons for the charging for green bin collections, a St Helens Council spokesperson said “As a non-statutory service not covered by council tax, St Helens Borough Council, like many other local authorities across the country, introduced a charge to garden waste collections in 2017 as a way of maintaining a balanced budget in the wake of significant funding cuts from central Government.

“Working out at less than £2 a collection every fortnight – comparable with garden waste services provided by other councils in the region – the charge allows us to continue delivering a quality service while protecting essential statutory services that so many of our residents depend on."

In 2023, 26,000 households subscribed to the service, with 7,000 tonnes of garden waste collected and recycled the previous year.

To sign up with St Helens Council for garden waste collection click here