WEST Devon Councillors have agreed to a price increase for the borough's garden waste subscription service to cover rising costs.

At its Full Council meeting on Tuesday, February 21, Borough Councillors agreed to increase the annual price of the garden waste service from £40 to £52 from April 2023.

The increase was among proposals made within the Council's draft budget.  The increase in the annual price of the service has been made to cover the increasing cost to the Council to run the service.

Issues like rising fuel costs and energy prices have meant that the authority has had to increase the price for the first time in six years.

Cllr Lucy Wood, Lead Member for Natural Environment, said: "The fee for our garden waste subscription service has remained the same since 2017. In that time there have been significant inflationary costs, such as fuel and wage costs.

"Raising the price of subscriptions to £52 means the service is projected to break even and the predicted income would cover the costs of delivering the service to residents.

"This is the first price rise in six years. The £52 annual cost is still significantly less than the cost of collection by an independent contractor and would largely bring us in line with what neighbouring authorities charge across the county for their garden waste collection services."