1) Black bin emptied once a fortnight - or when they can be bothered to drive up to the farm. If it's snowing, forget it.
2) Blue recycling bin emptied once a fortnight - sometimes, they've sent ONE bin wagon to empty both bins which means both domestic and recycling waste has gone into the same wagon. Do you see the logic in that? No, me neither.
3) One police officer covering approximately 40 miles of open countryside.
4) Small Fire Station with 1 engine approximately 7 miles away, not open 24/7.
5) Ambulance service that has to travel at least 20 miles to reach us.
Struggling now. There really isn't anything else I can think of. We have no street lights round here, pot holes as big as volcanoes, no public transport unless you want to walk 3 miles to catch the bus, which I really don't want to do with bags of shopping (or Amy) - and then the bus in the nearest village only runs every 2 hours. Oh, and we don't have pavements either. So you see, I know I'm not the only one to complain about the rip off council tax bills, but when I have to pay more than £2k a year for the above, you can see why I get a little irrational and feel my freedom of speech can extend to telling a stony-faced bag with no manners that my bins being emptied are the only service we are given.
This post was inspired by Maggie May who is also pretty furious about her bin situation.
I know the feeling - and to top it off, we don't even get a black bin, we just have to pile our rubbish bags outside the gate. I pay more council tax living here in the countryside than when I lived in an over populated town - how does that figure??
ReplyDeleteI'll never understand why the council need so much from us......
We do have a lot of black bin bags overflowing by the side of our bin, but we accumulate a lot rubbish!
DeleteI can only assume it is because there are less or you there for the amount to be divided by! But why that should be I have no idea (and am probably wrong too)
DeleteI'm sure I was told that you're entitled to a discount if your nearest street lamp is more than 2 miles away? We miss out by about 0.3 of a mile!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I've never heard that before! Missing out by 0.3 miles would be frustrating!
DeleteWhat about schools? I'd say they're pretty essential. There's also social services which are better paid for than not.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I can see your point.
Yes, I never thought about the school, I was thinking more along the lines of household services to be honest. But schools do feature amongst the list of things we have access to.
DeleteTwo thousand is a lot to be paying, so I can totally understand your angst. Particularly when you are without so many of the services the tax is supposed to provide.
ReplyDeleteI have gripes about our councils, there is an entire rant within me for this. But then I was always told to avoid politics as a conversation piece so perhaps I should hush now.
I rarely publish anything to do with politics; you can guarantee it'll cause a debate I don't want to get into!!
DeleteYou seem to be paying a lot for very little. I would try and get some kind of second opinion as to whether you should have to pay all that.
ReplyDeleteThat is shocking if they are merging waste with other things that you have carefully separated for recycling. However, you wouldn't be the first to say that.
I am waiting to see if my green bin will be emptied on Friday.
So far, they have collected twice since I complained, but not on the days of collection Only when I called them back.
I am now offering to cut neighbours shrubs back just so as to have a bin full again by Friday.
See how awkward I can be?
Maggie X
Nuts in May
I do hope they come to collect the bin, Maggie. You shouldn't have to keep phoning them to collect it.
DeleteI know that feeling - I spend a ridiculous amount of time chasing up bin collections (and I'd love it if they could take the recycling more often in summer) and then get to use next to none of the servies
ReplyDeleteI think the bins are the first thing person think about when they think council tax, they are a big part of the service we should expect for our money.
DeleteYou certainly are paying a lot CJ and not getting very much in return. We are very lucky by comparison as all amenities are very close and we get a weekly bin collection, as well as the recycling bins. A x
ReplyDeleteI'd love a weekly bin collection. I guess with just the 3 of us, we shouldn't have that much waste, but we do!
DeleteIts a lot, but doesn't Amy get picked up by taxi each day and gets a special education, or is that not from thr council budget?
ReplyDeleteDo you have a name, anon? And yes, she does get picked up by taxi and yes, she does attend a special school, but on the flip side, we pay a lot for various things at school, too.
DeleteMine is just under £2000. Unless we move to a payasyougo system I think you have to try to appease yourself with holistic picture rather than the services you actually see. The planning dept maybe (although you might see them as the enemy!). How about the food hygiene services, you want to know there are no mice droppings at your (not very)local chippy, school transport is one I'm currently using. How about the library service, registrar (deaths,births), children's homes. I think people in the towns see the direct benefits more but we probably need to think about all the services funded by our money and so many of them used by people that really need those services and some we will all need to call on at some point. So whilst it feels fairly shitty and unfair maybe you can feel a bit happier knowing that an old person got a meal delivered today or that if an armed robber turned up at the farm the police would turn up (in the end) but they are mainly in the city because, luckily for us, that's where the armed robbers like to hang out. Go on, cheer up you old bugger, you know you want to ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great comment! I've really been put in my place with this post, lol. I'm cheered up now, thanks to you x
DeleteAh, you've said everything I was going to say!
DeleteI think we do tend to concentrate on the bins, as that is the most visible place that this money goes. We have plenty of things we'd like done differently, but the principle of paying a tax for local services is fine. I personally think it would be better as an income-based tax, though, rather than according to house size. There are maybe a few things that are different according to house size, but not much.
I don't mind paying a tax for local services at all, none of us get anything for nothing (well, maybe some do but they shouldn't). But we do concentrate most of the bins, the things we can see visibly.
DeleteI agree with what you are saying in principle but as has been said you need to see the whole picture. You should be able to access how your council tax is spent and what proportion goes to local and central government, fire and police services. Whilst there are many overpaid public servants there are also those that provide much needed services that children, elderly and vulnerable cannot live without. You only have to think of your local council and the services they offer, housing, childrens, social, adult services, education, planning, etc etc. Some of this is funded from our council tax payments.
ReplyDeleteWe all have a choice as to how and where we live and proportionally perhaps the services you receive are not as available to you as they are to those in towns but as a country bumpkin give me fresh air, green fields and infrequent bus services any day!
PS - You can apply to have your home re banded and there's also a website out there (not sure what it's called) that you can see what banding similar properties are in. Personally if you're paying £2k you must live in a large home of substantial value, so presumably fuel and utility bills are also larger than average too for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming back and responding, I appreciate that. I know what you're saying and it does make sense. There are many services we receive that we don't necessarily see. My main point to this post was inspired after reading another post about council bins, but it has become a political debate that I feel uncomfortable with on my blog. However, I do appreciate your comments and now have a better understanding of exactly what we're paying for. I don't know who you are, which also makes me feel uncomfortable, but I suspect you know a substantial amount about council services.
DeleteCJ x
I have to say one thing about council tax that really tees me off, is that because we didn't go on holidays, or waste money, and stayed at home to put all our money into buying a bigger house, we have to pay double the council tax that our friends who pissed their money up against a wall through their twenties and thirties do.
ReplyDeleteThat's the bit that really winds me up now that money is tight for us.
Crappy Scottish Council Tax bills.
End of my rant now. I feel better for that.
You see this is the thing I just don't get. Why is council tax assessed on the size of your house? We are paying for the services yet the bigger our house, the more we pay. It's as though people in bigger houses are using more services, but they aren't are they? Great to read your rant!!
DeleteWorking for the local council I know that a lot more is paid for by council tax than what most people see but I fully get your point and sometimes its hard to understand why some seem to get more than others for what they pay. All I can say is that's life and that as with all such things the systems seem to benefit the lowest contributors more than the highest. The more you put in the less they allow you to take out! ;)
ReplyDeleteIt is life, unfair or not, it's what we have to accept. To me, it just doesn't make sense being taxed on the size of your property when it's the services we are using - surely that is what we should be taxed on.
DeleteI popped back to have another read on this. Didn't the poll tax try doing that for awhile and then it all went back to the rates system. One thing I do know is that you can never please the masses. I think the more Jeremy Kyle episodes you watch the more likely you are to use a larger proportion of council services so the rate of payment should be directly in proportion to that. I may stand for election based on that, I let you know when the first egg is thrown ;)
DeleteWhen I became a councillor last year I was surprised to learn just how many various services are carried out by the council. Things like Environment Health who showed me photos that would truly turn your stomach.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget schools, social services and highways departments. Don't get me wrong, I had to argue passionately this year before our council decided to freeze the council tax (originally proposed a 3.5% increase!) and I would be happy on a personal level to see it lowered in future.