SIR: Giles Gooding (Chronicle, Letters, July 16) misunderstands the basics of funding local services. I don’t have children in school in Hampshire but don’t expect a discount from my council tax because of it. I do expect efficient, environmentally friendly and regular collection of all waste including green (as I am lucky enough to have a garden).

The idea of local government services is to provide something for the ‘greater good’, acknowledging that it may not be profitable to do so. That’s what collecting green waste as part of an integrated recycling and environmental strategy for the benefit of local residents is about.

Otherwise, we will face the unpalatable alternatives of fly tipping, increased pollution queuing for ever limited recycling facilities, etc.

Jon Manley,

Basingstoke Road,

Old Alresford