Rural parish rates are higher than their urban counterparts

Parish rates bills have started coming through doors in most parishes over the last few weeks.

While islanders have already paid the £85 standing charge to the States to have their waste processed, the parishes are still in charge of organising the collection of waste and recycling.

And there is a big difference in how much parishioners are being charged.

In the past, refuse rates were charged based on the size of a person’s home. But the new system sees a flat rate per habitable dwelling.

Some parishes are still firming up their figures, but so far Castel is coming in as the cheapest parish, with each property paying £65.17.

In contrast, St Peter’s parishioners are having to find £100.01.

Dean of St Peter’s douzaine Martin Ozanne said they had done a joint bid with Torteval and Forest and they had tried to keep costs down.

‘We did go out to tender,’ he said.

‘We had other quotations, but Island Waste [the winning tender] were competitive and we have been pleased with them in the past.’

He said it was more costly to collect waste in rural parishes because the properties were spread out and it took longer to collect waste.

St Martin’s faces a similar problem. Parishioners are paying £98.43.

Constable Dave Beausire said unfortunately the narrow, winding lanes meant their waste collector had to invest in more, smaller vehicles to get around. This then pushed the cost up.

He said another problem was that under the new system all home owners paid the same, regardless of how big their property was.

While St Peter Port had the second lowest charge, the parish had a £144,000 surplus from last year’s budget.

The parish decided to use half that money this year and half of it next year to offset the refuse rate from £666,000 to £594,000.

Castel has the lowest charge.

Castel constable John Cook said the parish had worked hard to keep costs down, but was surprised that its parish refuse rate was the cheapest.

He confirmed that no savings had been used to keep the charge down.

The parish’s previous waste contract expired last year.

‘We had three companies that tendered for it, all of which were reputable and experienced and we went for the cheapest, which was States Works,’ he said.

He said the new contract – which started in January – was a five-year deal.

‘We feel we have come out with a good deal,’ he said.

Under the export strategy, islanders also have to pay either £1.40 or £2.50 for each black sack of mixed waste they throw away.

Recently, States’ Trading Assets deputy managing director Richard Evans had warned islanders that refuse collection rates would go up due to there being more waste streams to collect.

However, he did also note that while the parishes and contractors were doing an excellent job, he believed there was scope for greater efficiency, which would help reduce collection costs.