RESIDENTS have blasted a housing association over “unfair” charges for gardening and rubbish removal.

Orbit Housing Association sent a letter to some of its tenants explaining plans to add between £120 and £500 onto their annual bill with residents taking to Facebook group Shipston Stour Community Forum to vent their anger.

Areas affected include Rimell Close in Newbold on Stour, Birmingham Road in Stratford upon Avon and Mayo Road in Shipston on Stour.

Lindy Wall, a tenant at Rimell Close, was told she would be billed an extra £230 per year for the maintenance costs.

She said: “I will have to pay an awful lot of money just for mowing small lawns and a small grass area which does not serve a purpose.

“We mow our own lawn because if we waited for the contractors to do it we would be ankle deep in grass and refuse removal is paid through our council tax.”

The letter she received stated that the extra cost could not be contested by the residents.

It said: “We do not need your permission to apply the service charge because you have already signed your tenancy agreement which allows us to recover the costs of any service charge.”

A petition called ‘Orbit to stop unfair service charge’ was set up on the 38degrees.org website by Chris Pilkington, from Studley.

Mr Pilkington heard about Orbit’s plans from friends and family who live in the area.

He said: “Residents have told me many times about Orbit wasting cash by simply bodging fixes to any issues that occur rather than actually fixing them meaning that the same problem has to be repaired regularly.

“Tenants feel very strongly that if Orbit didn't waste so much money there would be no need for a service charge.

“The land they are trying to charge for has been in their care for a long time, and they have suddenly decided to begin charging for a service that in many places is not even needed, as residents actually care for much of the area themselves.”

The petition has received 275 signatures in less than a fortnight, with a goal to reach 300.

Resident John Mackie hopes for a positive outcome as a result of the petition.

“I think it is a good idea to show Orbit the opposition to the service charges,” he said.

“I have been sent a letter with my proposed charges. The area around my flat doesn’t need any work and most of the properties in the area are private. Why should I pay when they don’t?”

Other tenants are concerned because they have not received any information from Orbit about the changes.

Edd Bartlett, from Shipston said: “I think of it as nothing more than an underhanded attempt to get more out of tenants.

“I haven’t received one of these service charge notices from Orbit yet, but I know many who have. A small patch of grass cut once a year would take ten minutes to cut.”

Tristan Hopper, service charge operations manager at Orbit said: “We have recently reviewed our service charges and this has highlighted a number of estates that have been receiving grounds maintenance services, but where customers have not been paying a service charge when they should have been.

“This includes customers who may not have communal areas directly attached to their properties, but are still part of the overall estate.

“We will start charging for these services so that we can pay our contractors to continue to maintain these communities to a high standard.”

A spokesperson for Orbit added: “It doesn’t matter if someone has a garden or not. The service charge is to pay for the costs of maintaining the communal areas on the estate – any green spaces, trees, hedges - not under the council’s remit.”

Many residents have been told they will be charged from April 2018.

To view the petition visit https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/orbit-to-stop-unfair-service-charge#signature-form