New garden waste subscription service to start in Chelmsford in early March 2025

Chelmsford City Council will now follow most other local authorities in England by switching to a paid subscription service for garden waste collection. You can sign up for a subscription from January, in advance of the service change coming in from early March.

The move is part of a range of measures to close the council’s ongoing budget gap. In October, the council’s Annual Financial Review identified a projected total budget shortfall of £13.3m for the period until 2030, and within that, a deficit of £4m for the coming financial year. 

Costs increasing much faster than income

With government funding expected to meet only part of the council’s deficit, a new garden waste subscription remains one of the few, viable options to prevent significant cuts to council services. A new garden waste subscription, set at a similar level to other Essex council schemes, is estimated to bring in around £1.3m a year. 

Council costs have been increasing due to rising homelessness, high inflation and the impact of higher interest rates. Council income, on the other hand, is lagging behind these extra costs. Chelmsford City Council estimates that it has ‘lost’ real terms government funding of around £11m a year since 2010/11.

Councillor Chris Davidson, Cabinet Member for Finance, says with costs rising much faster than funding, urgent action is now needed to protect services that residents rely on.

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“It is with huge reluctance that we switch to a paid service for garden waste collection. We’d much rather keep this service free for our residents and we’ve been holding out for as long as possible, but we now have little option but to join our neighbours in bringing in a yearly charge. All other Essex councils with a separate brown bin service have already taken this decision.

“Early analysis of the Government’s yearly funding settlement, released this week, indicates that we could be slightly worse off than we were expecting for 2025/26. Much uncertainty remains for the next few years, where there is still a significant predicted ongoing shortfall.

“I know residents care about their local services and will be asking what we do with the Council Tax they pay. Chelmsford City Council keeps only £10 of every £100 of Council Tax that we collect. We deliver more than 30 services, from homelessness support to parks and green spaces, and our share of what residents pay isn’t going as far as it used to.

“If you were paying us £100 in Council Tax in 2019, today you’d be paying £114. However, costs, particularly on expensive things like homelessness support and energy, have gone up a lot more than this. For every £100 we were spending in 2019 on Temporary Accommodation - today that’s costing us £420. Or take the £100 we spent on gas and electricity in 2019; today we’d have to pay £309. So, as you can see, the increase in our share of Council Tax can’t keep up."

Cllr Chris Davidson, Cabinet Member for Finance

New opt-in scheme to begin in March 2025

The new opt-in scheme for garden waste collection will start from early March, with householders invited to apply for a yearly subscription in January. Residents who subscribe should see no difference from the current brown bin service, emptied every two weeks. Online booking for the service will open on the council’s website from early January.

Subscription prices

Residents who wish to continue to have their brown bins collected from March will pay a yearly charge for the service. There are no set up fees and householders without an existing brown bin will be provided with one at no cost. The subscription prices, set at a similar level to other Essex council schemes, are as follows:

• £60 for one brown bin to be emptied, paid yearly.
• £45 for a first brown bin for anyone currently receiving Council Tax Support. The householder would need to prove eligibility for a discount by providing a valid CTS reference number.
• £30 a year for a second brown bin. This price applies to everyone.

How the scheme will work

The subscription will run for 12 months, from March 2025 until February 2026. Early opt-in when the scheme opens in January is advised to ensure continuity of collections and to make the most of the subscription. The council will be sending information to all Chelmsford households in January with details of the scheme and how to sign up.

Subscribers will get a personalised sticker to put on the back of their bin, underneath the handle. From 1 March, collection crews will only take garden waste if they see this sticker. Households that don’t wish to pay for a subscription don’t have to. There are other, free ways to get rid of garden waste. Most garden waste can be either composted at home or recycled at an Essex County Council recycling centre by residents who choose not to sign up.

More details in January

Information about the service will be available at www.chelmsford.gov.uk in early 2025, including a subscription booking page. The current kerbside service will continue until the end of February.