Garden waste permits exceed expectations

Almost 75% of households across Stratford-on-Avon District have signed up to Stratford District Council's Clip and Collect garden waste subscription service which started in April.

Over 45,000 garden waste permits have been purchased, exceeding any original estimate that had been predicted and factored into the budget process.

Cllr Ian Shenton, Climate Change Portfolio says: "I would like to thank all our residents who have purchased the permits, we are incredibly grateful to them. Although this is a service we don't have to provide and is not part of the Council Tax, we know this service is valued by residents. 

"We had to make the difficult choice to charge for the service or possibly discontinue it completely. We felt that it would be fairer for residents to have the choice to pay for a service, rather than not having a service at all.

"The revenue raised by permits has exceeded our forecasts and expectations in the first year and that is a great measure of how valued this service is. This income helps contribute towards the cost of providing this and other waste and cleansing service, reducing pressure elsewhere on the council's finances

"I would also like to thank all the staff who have been involved in implementing the chargeable waste service - this has been a tremendous team effort from across the whole Council."

Subscriptions are still open and you can subscribe to the service at any time throughout the year. The cost is £40 per green bin regardless of when you subscribe with no pro-rata rate. New subscriptions will be due for everyone on 1^st April 2022.

To subscribe and find out more about this service, please visit: www.stratford.gov.uk/gardenwaste

If you are sure you do not want a green waste subscription you can request removal of your green bin by visiting - www.stratford.gov.uk/online-forms/green-bin-removal-request

To have unwanted green bins removed they must be empty, bins with waste in will not be taken.

The introduction of a charge is part of a package of measures to offset a cut in funding from central Government.

Householders who pay to have their garden waste taken away are issued with a non-transferable permit to attach to their green bin.

Householders who choose not to take part in the scheme have the choice of home composting or taking their garden waste to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Warwickshire County Council offer discounted home composting bins on their website: Composting - Warwickshire County Council

Food waste will still be collected on recycling collection weeks, even if you don't subscribe to the garden waste service using a food waste caddy.  Free food waste caddies are available on request by calling 01789 260628 or emailing: streetscene@stratford-dc.gov.uk