• AS previously mentioned in Tribune’s pages, as of April 1, Islington Council has stopped collecting garden waste unless you pay an annual subscription of £75.

This is a great idea as it raises much-needed money for the council.

There is clearly room for further expansion of this policy.

For example, much garden waste will contain poisonous plants such as holly, yew, or even innocent-seeming lilies-of-the-valley,and so a premium could be charged for collecting these dangerous items, with a fine for any failure to separate from non-hazardous material.

If one does not wish to subscribe to this service, then the council’s website (if you can access it, as it seems to be rather over-loaded at present with enquiries) suggests that you drive to the reuse and recycling centre – of course, if you foolishly no longer have a car, then one could cycle there with those large, heavy garden bags safely hanging from either side of your handlebars, with maybe the third strapped to the back (wisely, the limit for free bags is three).

Alternatively Islington Council is prepared to sell you a compost bin or charge you for bulky waste collection; again, wonderful ways to raise yet more money, especially if there is a range of designer-collectable bins on offer.

Presumably this is only the beginning, and soon we will have to pay separately from the council tax for the collection of other recyclable waste and normal rubbish.

The boundaries are limitless.

Maybe we should pay for the proportion of the street lighting that illuminates the adjacent pavement, with refuseniks being readily identified by the pools of gloom outside of their apartments?

I look forward to future developments with bated breath…

But should that be baited breath, as I am reeled in to be fleeced (to mix my metaphors)?

MICHAEL EDENBOROUGH, N1