THANK you to John Cossham from York Rotters for his detailed explanation relating to the production of methane from the green waste collection following my letter and the reply from Jeremy Fox.

I have spoken to many people across the city in recent weeks relating to the green waste collection. Many enthusiastic, some with real concerns and others unhappy with the change.

A response from some residents has been "why should I go to the trouble of sorting my rubbish when we have such a high council tax; this landfill tax is just another stealth tax".

There is still a belief that York has one of the highest levels of council tax when, in reality, it is the tenth lowest in the country.

For the record I defend the concept of the landfill tax - it is important we try to do as much as we can to preserve our environment for future generations. It would, however, be fairer to York council tax payers if the Government would distribute the money raised by landfill tax "fairly" - York has paid more than £7 million in landfill tax and received only £1.5 million to help improve facilities for recycling.

Coun Keith Orrell,

Lib Dem, City of York Council,

Trent Avenue,

Huntington, York.

Updated: 10:27 Wednesday, October 19, 2005