Amendments fail, fixed waste charge still £85

Another amendment that sought to change the status of self-catering businesses after they had raised concerns was also unsuccessful.

Two items of legislation from the States’ Trading Supervisory Board were before the Assembly, one concerning the parochial collection of waste and the other about waste management services.

Deputies Lester and Laurie Queripel placed an amendment which gave members the option of increasing the price of black bags and reducing the fixed annual fee, or doing away with it completely.

If the option for the charge to be scrapped was accepted, islanders would pay £1.95 for smaller black sacks and £3.90 for a larger one.

Alternatively, the fixed charge could have been reduced to £45. Bag charges would then be cut to £1.60 for smaller bags and £3.20 for large bags.

Deputy Lester Queripel said: 'A true polluter pays system is where the user pays for the waste they produce, full stop.’

His brother, Laurie, added: ‘If both options fail, something approaching a worthwhile outcome would be that the narrative around the waste strategy would be more honest and transparent.

‘I believe it’s a positive amendment that will encourage more recycling and less black bag waste,’ said Deputy David De Lisle.

But Deputy Mark Dorey urged members to stick with the original decision: ‘It would be a waste of money if we changed the system now,’ he said.

The amendment as a whole went to a recorded vote and was lost by 22 to 17, with one abstention.

The law was passed by a majority vote.

Deputy Dawn Tindall placed an amendment saying that the system was unfair on those who operated self-catering units.

Her amendment, seconded by Deputy Charles Parkinson, called for these operations to be classed as small businesses.

That would remove them from the current household charges, and they would then be free to opt in to the system if they wished, or pay to have their waste handled privately.

She estimated that for a site with four units, the cost under the new system would rise from about £144 a week to just over £1,200, while for 21 units, the cost would go from £1,103 to £7,035.

The aim of the amendment was to address these ‘inequitable’ changes in costs.

STSB president Deputy Peter Ferbrache said that the charges in the waste strategy had been calculated based on some 27,000 all contributing, including 384 self-catering units.

Removing these from the equation could see each household having to pay an additional £4.50 a week in charges.

After a brief debate, the amendment was lost by 19 votes to 18, with three States members who were outside the chamber waiting to get back in, absent for the vote.

The law was then put to the vote and approved.