TORY claims that Labour-run Dudley Council is considering charging for green waste collection has been strenuously denied.

A councillor, candidate and James Morris MP featuring in Halesowen North and Belle Vale Conservative newsletters vow to fight against plans to introduce a so-called ‘garden tax.’ Halesowen North councillor Karen Shakespeare, former environment cabinet member in the previous Tory-led administration, claimed the council had “admitted” looking at charging plans.

She said: “I was proud to be the one to introduce free green bin waste collections.

“Labour-controlled Dudley Council have admitted they are looking into plans to charge for green waste collection, just like they have done in Labour-run Birmingham and Walsall.”

But environment and culture cabinet member, Halesowen North councillor Hilary Bills hit back, saying: “I can quite categorically state that there are no plans, whatsoever, in the pipeline to charge for green waste collections.”

Cllr Bills added: “In fact waste collection and recycling in Dudley is a good news story. Recycling is running at record rates, Dudley rarely uses land fill because all grey bin and street bin waste is incinerated and the heat from this is used to generate electricity.”

However, she did not rule out the possibility of future charges, as the council continues to face stringent cuts.

Cllr Bills said: “Since 2010, owing to the Conservative-led Coalition Government’s cuts in funding to local councils, Dudley’s budget has been halved. “If cuts carry on at this rate, whichever party is in power, in a few years’ time some unpalatable decisions will have to be made.”

Cllr Shakespeare said she had asked Cllr Bills at a full council meeting last year whether the authority was considering imposing charges and claimed Cllr Bills evaded the question.

She said: “If they were not considering charges, it would be a simple enough answer to say “no”. We could have had this answer months ago.”

Cllr Shakespeare said if the Conservatives win back control of the council in the May elections, she would not expect them to consider charging for green waste collections.

“The bottom line is to always protect frontline services and that’s a frontline service,” she added.

Cllr Shakespeare also lambasted the council for failing to replace a constituent’s bin which was damaged last April and refuse collection staff for failing to sweep up dropped waste from the roads and pavements.