CLLR Judes Butt, trying to justify the green bin charge in Poole, states that “the days of free discretionary services in our cash strapped council are past, no one expects something for nothing”.

Well, Cllr Butt, for some years I have been providing council tax which paid for my green bin collection.

Indeed, between 2002 and 2010 my council tax has risen by a compounded 50.2 per cent, whereas the national inflation during the same period was 20.2 per cent.

Cllr Butt admits that once the number of households subscribed to the new charge exceeds 8,000 the scheme will be in profit, so at last we have an admission that this is just a way of raising council tax at a time when Poole claims to have held it.

So where does all this extra council tax go?

Well, Poole BC has 60–plus executives earning over £50,000.

Maybe that’s something that could have been reduced, instead of hitting the lower paid staff, to enable Poole BC to meet its financial targets.

G SMITH, Talbot Village