Machynlleth residents have been left “absolutely disgusted” over Powys County Council plans to remove green waste bins and instead charge residents between £30 and £40 for collections.

Cllr Monica Atkins has hit out at Powys council insisting that the decision would lead to fly-tipping and that some residents would struggle to pay for the new collection charge.

Powys council has said the change is being made as communal green waste bins were being misused, with items such as mattresses being dumped in them.

But Cllr Atkins said the decision was likely to backfire on Powys council in terms of fly-tipping.

She said: “People have told me they’re absolutely disgusted with having to pay £30 to £40 for green waste bins. There are a lot of people up in arms.There are a lot of people who can’t afford that.

“What’s going to happen is people will be putting things in bin bags and just chucking it everywhere. They’re asking for fly-tipping.”

Cllr Michael Williams said the county council’s Cabinet had made the decision to remove the communal green waste bins after previous warnings that if other items were being placed in them, the authority could consider taking them away, but Cllr Williams said he agreed that removing the bins could cause problems with fly-tipping even though they were being “heavily abused”.

He said: “The Cabinet decided to go down this road. I agree wholeheartedly with you, it’s a mistake to remove the green waste bins."

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