Highland self-catering bin charges branded rubbish
Self-catering businesses in the strath will have to start paying for their rubbish to be collected, or their refuse will be left where it is.
And it is a bolt out of the blue from Highland Council which has taken 22 years to strike.
It has emerged that as many as 1,500 properties across the Highlands could be affected by the charges.
The legislation requiring the local authority to recover the full costs of any non-domestic refuse and recycling collection service dates from 1990.
But only in the last week, Highland Council has sent out warnings to self-catering operators, demanding that they pay up promptly.
They are giving the businesses – mainly small -scale operators – until just Friday (March 2) to submit their financial details to them for payment.
Highland Council has said that if it does not have a commercial contract in place, it will stop refuse collections after April 1.
The local authority is charging £142.48 per year for its alternate weekly collections of refuse and recycling – to be paid up front and in full – or self-catering operators can instead use a private contractor by separate arrangement.
Ardlogie Guest House in Aviemore, which operates a small bothy as a self-catering unit for around 20 weeks of the year, is one of those being told to pay up.
Owner Elaine Burlingham said: "What has made us most cross is that this has come completely out of the blue.
"We have also been told that we cannot carry any waste from the bothy to Highland Council’s recycling centre without the relevant documentation.
"It seems ludicrous that we are legally allowed to take our domestic recycling to Granish by car but not commerical waste, as we are not covered by the law, even though the content is often identical."
Ms Burlingham added that any new bin for the bothy would be sitting empty for most of the year, but they would have to pay for the full 12 months.
Mr Eldridge said: "They have instructed their bin men that for properties like ours, if there is no Highland Council bin with a commercial permit or one of their private commercial bins, they are not to collect it.
"This is because they will not know what rubbish is domestic and what rubbish is commercial."
He added: "We feel that everyone wants a piece of you when you are running a small business – and this is yet another outlay."
Larger self-catering operators already have to use Highland Council’s service or a private provider because of the volume of waste - unlike those with small premises.
Ms Burlingham said: "I have been told by the council that they have no plans to bring in these charges for guest houses and B&Bs, but this could be the thin end of the wedge if they make money out of this."
Local MP Danny Alexander said he hoped that the council would make allowances, given the lack of proper notice.
He said: "It is very disappointing that an error in applying the law correctly in the past is causing many small firms to face an extra cost at short notice.
"Clearly this could be a problem, particularly for very small firms with seasonal cash flow.
"I hope the council will consider whether some sort of transitional or time-to-pay arrangements could help small tourism businesses to deal with this change.’
Mr Les Durance, Scottish Conservative Badenoch and Strathspey ward candidate for the Highland Council elections, said the fee could be another nail in the coffin for local small businesses.
A council spokesperson said: "At the transport environmental and community (TEC) services committee of January 19 this year, members were informed that a significant number – around 1,500 – of non-domestic rated properties throughout the Highlands were receiving a collection service without having a commercial contract in place and that TEC services would be targeting premises to ensure payment for services.
"The council is trying to set a level playing field for all people who are operating as self-catering business."
