CHESHIRE East Council says that the decision to introduce a charge for new wheelie bins is ‘not open to challenge’.

From this month, residents looking for a new wheelie bin or their second replacement bin within three years will pay up to £30.

Labour members had slammed the policy, which they said would affect vulnerable residents the most, while CEC’s environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee called on the cabinet to scrap the proposal in June.

The council has now confirmed that six members requested the decision to charge for new and replacement bins was ‘called in’ – but CEC’s monitoring officer has rejected that request.

A CEC spokesman said: “The reasons for the call-in request, made by six members of the council, were that relevant information had been ignored, viable alternatives had not been considered, and justification for the decision could be open to challenge.

“Decisions on whether to accept a call-in by members are taken by the council’s monitoring officer, in accordance with the council’s constitution.

“In this case, the monitoring officer looked at the information provided in the call-in request, considered the relevant committee minutes and delegated decision report and was satisfied that no relevant information had been ignored by the decision maker.

“He also concluded that alternative proposals had been considered and justification had been provided for the decision.

“He was content that the decision was not open to challenge and, therefore, he rejected the call-in request.”

The charge for new and replacement standard 240-litre household bins is £30 each for recycling, black residual and garden waste bins, or £25 for a smaller-sized 140-litre bin.

In the first instance of a bin being lost or stolen a replacement will be provided for free, but a charge will be made if this recurs within three years.

A 25 per cent concessionary rate applies to residents on qualifying benefits, while any bins broken during the collection process will be replaced free of charge.