As you are all aware, in 2013 Chiltern District Council introduced Green Waste initiative that involves charging residents £35 a year for bi-weekly collections of green waste bins, with bag collection free.

I’m not sure if Chiltern District Council are aware of the impact that seasonal changes have on the volume of garden waste generated, but I have noticed that my garden seems to produce more garden waste during the summer months than it does during the winter months!

Indeed, I have also noticed that there seem to be more green bins put out for collection during the summer months than in winter. How strange, I hear you say.

Not being one to jump to any wild conclusions about my isolated observation, I decided to undertake further research to test a hypothesis that gardens do not produce more waste during the summer months.

Over the past few months, I have asked many local residents about the impact that different seasons have on the volume of garden waste generated and I can now confidently say that there is a correlation.

Well, ‘Christopher Columbus’, I hear you say!

In an attempt to validate my findings with the robust Chiltern District Council research, I searched their website but could find not find any reference to any research they had undertaken. How strange, I thought. How could they make an informed decision about the required frequency of green waste collection unless they asked residents what they need?

I don’t know about you, but I would be very interested to see any evidence that supports the conclusion that there is a need to provide a bi-weekly green waste collection service throughout the year!

Call me old-fashioned, but surely it would make more sense to increase the frequency of green waste collection during the summer months (i.e. every week), and decrease the frequency during the winter months (i.e. every month).

If you feel that the current provision of green waste collection needs to change in line with the way gardens grow during the summer months then you need to write to Kitran Eastman, Waste Services, at Chiltern District Council. Failing that, tell them what you think of the current provision of service when you phone in to renew your £35 green waste collection licence. Power to the people! — Andrew Moore, by email