Compost waste riles residents

14:10:20 6th October 2008

There is growing unrest among Conwy Valley gardeners after it emerged that the local council is unable to sell or even give away compost made from their garden waste due to red tape.

Residents of Conwy are forced to pay £84,000 for the council to remove 13,000 tonnes of compost produced at the local composting facility because Environment Agency regulations mean that the council would require special licences to transport and use it.

But locals are understandably riled by the waste of money and compost.

"They are barking up the wrong tree with this," former councillor Neil Formstone told the Daily Post.

"Why are we paying contractors to take this waste when surely there would be businesses that would pay them for this commodity?" he asked.

"There are dozens of garden centres that I am sure would be happy to buy compost so why is Conwy paying for it to be taken away? Is this just a lazy decision rather than investigating how the council could actually make money or at least break even on this?

"If they are going to pay out £84,000 a year – then pay someone to bag it and sell it or give it away at the site so at least the people of Conwy are benefiting from their own waste."

Gardeners may be better investing in their own compost bin to make proper use of their garden waste - allowing it to be used to fertilise plants in their garden and greenhouse rather than ending up in a landfill.

Doing so would also reduce the collective bill for removing compost from the Dolgarrog composting facility.