Early bird discount offered as unpopular green bin charges loom
The introduction of an annual green bin collection charge is unlikely to prove popular with residents this April, but Stratford District Council is urging residents to sign up from Monday to get an early bird £5 discount.
Despite significant opposition to the idea, the council agreed to bring in the charge last year, but decided to delay its introduction until April this year because of the pandemic.
Stratford District Council say the charge is necessary due to the increasing financial pressures facing the authority, whilst councillors have pointed out that a number of neighbouring authorities already charge for green waste collections.
If residents sign up to green-bin scheme between 11th January and 28th February, the charge of the service will be £35 for the year, rather than £40.
Cllr Ian Shenton, Operations Portfolio says: “I would encourage anyone who would like to subscribe to our garden waste service, to take advantage of this early bird offer and sign up now before the service starts in April.
“It will give you peace of mind that you will still have your garden waste collected for 12 months and at the same time save you money be signing up early for a weekly fee of 67p.
“Over 3,000 residents have already shown an interest in the service last year and they will be sent text reminders about the service.
“It’s an entirely optional service and this is not a compulsory charge, but from April our garden waste collection will only be available to residents that register and subscribe. If you do not have a garden or do not want to pay for the collections you do not need to do anything.
“The collection of garden waste is a discretionary service - i.e. one that we do not have to provide. Given our budget pressures last year and this year we had a choice to charge for the service or possibly stop it completely. We felt it would be fairer for residents to have a choice to pay for a service or not, rather than not having a service at all.”
To subscribe visit: www.stratford.gov.uk/gardenwaste