Almost half of the households across Stratford-on-Avon District have signed up to Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Clip & Collect Garden Waste subscription service starting in April.
Applications opened on 11 January with an Early Bird offer of £35 for each green bin for a 12-month subscription, starting on 1 April 2021.
When the Early Bird offer ended, after six-weeks at the end of February, 28,656 had subscribed to the service.
Cllr Ian Shenton, Operations Portfolio says: "We've had a tremendous response to our garden waste subscription service since our Early Bird offer opened in January. While the service is a discretionary service, one that we don't have to provide - it shows that our residents really do value this service.
"Although the Early Bird offer has now finished, residents can still sign-up for the year-round service which starts in April. 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 annual charge of £40 for each green bin will now apply. Residents can subscribe to the service at any time throughout the year but the subscription year is fixed from 1st April to 31st March, with no pro-rata rate. People are urged to sign up early and not leave it until the 1st April as it can take up to ten days to process new applications.
To subscribe and find out more about this service, please visit: www.stratford.gov.uk/gardenwaste
For those residents who don't want to subscribe to the service they can register to have their green bin removed at - www.stratford.gov.uk/online-forms/green-bin-removal-request
From April 2021, the District Council will be introducing a charge for the collection of garden waste.
The current cost of providing the service free for all 61,386 properties in the district is £1,152,525 a year.
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 will be 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
