Parking, waste collection and burial price hikes in Peterborough set for approval

A series of proposed price hikes for Peterborough City Council services have been recommended for approval.

Increased prices for services such as waste collection, parking permits and burial costs have been put forward as the council looks to tackle its growing budget gap, which is predicted to grow to £6.2m next year (2024/25).

The council is also predicted to be facing an overspend of £5.1m for the current financial year (2023/24) which it is seeking to address urgently.

The price increases would not be enough on their own, however, as the expected additional income they would be expected to generate starts at £30,000 (2023/24) before rising to £644,000 (2024/25) and then again to £834,000 (2025/26).

Early changes

The first set of proposed changes could take place from January 1.

These include increasing the charge for additional garden waste collections from £25 to £50, increasing second, third and visitor parking permits from £44 to £70 and increasing daily fees at the Cherry Lodge children’s home from £520 to £613 for non-Peterborough residents.

They also include new charges for parking bay suspensions (£20 daily charge), which might be necessary when a skip or construction vehicle is blocking a space, and for a dispensation from parking restrictions (£15), which might be necessary when a construction vehicle needs to access a pedestrianised road.

Waste collection going up

From April 1, it has been proposed that annual garden waste (brown bin) collections will rise from £50 per year to £55 and that bulky waste collections will go up from £23 for five items to £30.

Parking to become more expensive

First residential parking permits would rise from £44 a year to £50.

For on and off street parking, standard charging hours would become from 7am to 8pm. This would remove the normally reduced evening tariff and instead make overnight parking, from 8pm, free. The Sand Martin House multi-storey would be excluded from these changes.

Increases to parking charges would be introduced in line with inflation and maximum stay periods for on-street parking would be removed.

Cost of burial to rise

Bereavement charges are also set to rise. Cremations would go up by two percent and burial charges by seven. Exclusive rights of burial can current by purchased on a 60-year lease at £24 per year; this would change to £23.33 but be available for 75 years.

Other changes proposed would see the council starting to introduce charges for pre-application advice for major planning applications and removing the option for amending applications free of charge.

Fines to hit harder

The council has said that it will increase fixed penalty notices for crimes such as graffiti or fly-tipping.

A review of these has seen the proposed changes listed as the maximum fine for fly-tipping jumping from £400 to £1,000 and for litter or graffiti from £150 to £500.

Other changes relate to adult social care. Currently, when the council calculates how much of a financial contribution it should make towards the cost of a person’s care, it automatically adds £10, £15 or £25 per week, depending on their level of disability, towards basic costs such as cleaning or electricity for a wheelchair.

This could be scrapped, council documents say, as part of a review of current policy, although this would need to undergo public consultation first.

The changes will be presented to full council of Wednesday evening (December 6, 6pm) where the council will vote of the changes.