Fenland District Council will no longer offer free collections of real Christmas Trees as part of its waste collection scheme. The council currently permits residents to put their trees out for collection on recycling days to be collected with garden waste. New proposals to charge £40 per year for garden waste collections mean that only those paying the fee will be able to have their Christmas trees taken away for recycling. This is another example of the garden waste collection scheme disproportionately affecting certain groups within the district. People who live in properties without gardens - for example those in flats or sheltered accommodation - will no longer be able to have a real Christmas tree unless they can take it to a recycling centre themselves - or pay the entire £40/year fee just to have their Christmas tree taken away. Residents will also potentially see their garden waste collection days change due to the reduction in the service, meaning that residents opting-in to the scheme will need to start juggling three different collection days for general waste, recycling and garden waste collections. The council has also suggested that collection days could be rearranged as the service is reviewed to take into account changes in demand. Please share the petition with your friends so that we can all tell the council that we aren't happy with this new stealth bin tax! P.S. We've just passed 1,600 signatures! Thanks everyone. (Photo: Rebecca Siegel, Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons)