Decision details

Parks & Street Care, Christmas Tree Collection Fees and Charges 2025/26.

Reference: D1681

Decision Maker: Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services (Operations)

Decision status: For Determination

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: No

Purpose:

The report details a proposal to continue a service to collect real Christmas trees from residents of the borough after Christmas, and seeks approval to increase the current charge from January 2026.

Decision:

To approve the revised Fees and Charges for 2025/26 from £7 to £10

To agree for the price revisions to be introduced from 1 January 2026

To review the Service in 6 months’ time. [Mar 2026], having monitored its performance with a view to revising the same for January 2027.

Reasons for the decision:

To contribute towards full cost recovery of chargeable services in 2025/26 and to enable effective and efficient service delivery for residents.

Alternative options considered:

Cease the Service - This would remove a popular service that residents of the borough can access, although there are some charity and commercial providers of a similar service. It could also potentially mean that some of these Christmas trees are then fly tipped within the borough.

Maintain the 2025 fee of £7 - This would mean that the service would no longer cover its costs due to the increase in fuel and labour prices.

Publication date: 01/10/2025

Date of decision: 01/10/2025

Accompanying Documents: