Penalised for having a garden

I object to paying an upfront charge for having my garden waste collected next year.

I do not care that many other councils make this charge and we should fall in line with them.

At nearly 90 years of age it is out of the question that I should compost at home. I have to have the services for a gardener for which I pay, and he has enough to undertake dealing with my large garden. Why is the collection of garden rubbish carried out in the winter months as well as during the rest of the year?

My garden receives no attention between at least mid October until the end of March, but the brown lorry still calls complete with a team of men. This service is a total waste of money, hence we garden owners should not have to pay for a complete year. Those of us who have a garden are being heavily penalised and the fact if the charge goes ahead it means we are paying more council tax than the increase which is to be announced. We do not all want to move into flats. We did not all want a new Arndale Centre and with more and more online shopping this will prove to be a white elephant. Surely the Congress Theatre could be refurbished much more quickly than at present. Good entertainment is passing us by with the accompanying loss of revenue. The Christmas market was a disaster for shoppers and retail units alike. It was an obstruction and resembled a prisoner of war camp. Do any council members actually live in Eastbourne? If they do they must be blinkered. They forget we should be attracting tourists. Right now we are a reason for us to be bypassed.