THERE was no decision on the fate of brown bins at Clackmannanshire Council last week as the report on the proposals was "not ready for consideration".

An item on the Garden Waste Permit Scheme featured on last Thursday's, December 19, agenda with the document suggesting an annual charge of £36 per bin for collections.

However, the Kilncraigs chamber was told a report will be brought back, potentially for a special meeting of council, for consideration in the future.

According to the document that did feature in the agenda for the day, Wee County households will receive letters to notify people of the changes around two months before the charging period begins.

The information available suggested the scheme would come into force in March 2020.

Collection of garden waste is not statutory, meaning the local authority is under no legal obligation to provide the service.

The council papers which did make it into the public realm highlighted that the existing arrangements are "not sustainable due to the current financial environment and is exacerbated by increased demand (due to new residential developments)".

The document added: "As resources diminish, the additional pressures in operating the green waste collections are contributing to the risk of failure in other waste collection streams.

"A number of local authorities have successfully introduced garden waste permit systems and many others are looking to follow suit.

"One authority within Scotland no longer provides a garden waste collection service."

The service currently costs around £270,000 a year, with the council hoping to achieve a cost saving of at least £130,000 through the permit system.

If around half of the around 22,000 properties currently with a brown bin take on the permits, the scheme will be able to recover all the costs associated with the service.

Those residents who do not wish to sign up will be able to take their garden waste to the recycling centre at Forthbank, free of charge.

Alternatively, they will be encouraged to try home composting.

There was no indication at last week's meeting on what parts of the report into the scheme needed further development.

It is unlikely the idea would be shelved as it was agreed as part of the budget savings in March 2019 and the report, which was not considered at this time, said the local authority was "committed" to introducing the scheme for collections commencing in March 2020.