A Thanet council plan to charge for the disposal of clinical waste will be put on hold while the authority carries out a review
The charge applies to yellow or orange sacks and sharps boxes. The decision to charge was made in December when new fees and charges were agreed for the 2018/19 financial year as part of the council budget.
In a letter sent to people who use the service, Thanet council said although the it had been provided free previously it had been necessary to ‘revisit’ the issue of charging.
But Thanet council has confirmed the charges are now being put on hold while a wider review is carried out.
A council spokesman said: “We have listened to feedback from residents who are directly impacted by the clinical waste charges and want to take the opportunity to reflect on these concerns. In order to do this, we have decided to defer the implementation of these charges until we have undertaken a wider review informed by comments from our customers.”
The move follows outrage from residents over the proposals and the setting up of a protest group to fight the plans. A request was also made by Thanet Labour Party councillors to review the decision urgently.
Claire Clarke, from the Thanet Clinical Waste Protest Group facebook page, said: “We are very pleased Thanet council is looking at the implications more carefully but we will continue to campaign against the charges and there will be further information on the Facebook page.”
Thanet Labour Party leader Jenny Matterface said: “Hopefully those who use the service will now be consulted on this service since it would impact on those who are sick or with a long-term condition.”
The charges proposed are:
£214.13 per year for providing and collecting clinical sacks
£6.71 per collection for provision and collection of a 11.5 litre sharps container
£8.49 for provision and collection of 22 litre sharps container.
