I can’t be the only one astonished by the new proposal to start charging for the collection of green or garden waste put forward by the Labour Council.

Of course, you as council taxpayers are already paying for this service through your council tax.

It is rather a question of, we are intending to charge you twice for the same service.

This proposal is currently out for consultation, understandably if you ask the public would you mind paying twice for the same service then the answer is likely to be an emphatic 'no we don’t!' so the council in their consultation questionnaire have rather loaded the questions, the survey starts by asking.

“Should households, which do not have gardens, continue to contribute to the garden waste removal service as part of their council tax for households which do have gardens”?

The question is framed in such a way as to suggest that if you don’t have a garden and agree with the above proposition you are likely to receive a rebate on your council tax.

Of course, no such rebate is on offer, only an extra charge is proposed to the 80,000 residents who happen to have a garden.

The real piece de resistance however is the next question, which asks,

“Do you think council tax should continue to be spent on vital services such as street cleaning, litter picking etc etc or on collecting garden waste?”

It is a leading question, suggesting being in favour of one you must be against the other, it is suggesting that if you continue to support the collecting garden waste, you must be against the delivery of other “vital” services.

The survey is in effect trying to guide the public into agreeing with the councils’ proposals through a set of leading questions rather than to genuinely seek your views.

People pay an awful lot of money in council tax, money they work hard for, they expect a reasonable service in return.

Collecting garden waste is one of those services and they should not be expected to pay twice for it.

This “garden tax” as some people are calling it, is double taxation, and it comes on the back of the recent removal of the fortnightly beige bin collection in a favour of a monthly collection.

All this undermines confidence in the council and breaks the ‘contract’ the town hall has with residents. I urge all residents to make it clear to their councillors and through the albeit flawed consultation process that Bolton residents do not believe in paying for the same service twice.