MORE than half of Argyll and Bute’s residents would be willing to pay more for collections of bulky waste, according to a council survey.
And nearly half think that commercial waste services are worth paying more for.
Those are two of the findings from a consultation on Argyll and Bute Council’s service provision, carried out in late 2020 as part of the authority’s annual budget-setting process.
Around 1,100 people took part in the survey – and more than 40 per cent said they’d be prepared to pay more to hire space in car parks, and for parking permits, while just under a third are willing to cough up extra for car parking.
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The consultation’s findings will be used to shape the authority’s final budget for 2021-22, due to be considered and voted on at a full council meeting on Thursday, February 25.
In a report on the consultation, council executive director Kirsty Flanagan said: “While we received feedback specific to the topics covered, this overall reference emerged: rather than cut services, find different ways of working or delivering them, to make them sustainable.
“Recurring suggestions for how the council might do this were efficiency savings, campaign for more funding for the council, introduce or increase charges, and support communities to get involved in delivering services that matter to them.
“Charging, and involving communities more, received some objection as well as support. [The] main concerns about charging were about the level of charges, and the impact on low income residents.”
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