No stone is being left unturned in a council's campaign to encourage Atherstone and district householders to join a 'green bin' revolution rather than having to get rid of their garden waste at a former quarry site across the borough boundary.

This is the view that will greet potentially thousands of townsfolk who don't want to have their garden waste collected and instead face making weekly forays in the spring, summer and autumn months to the Judkins recycling centre on Tuttle Hill, Nuneaton.

Nub News made the 4.7-mile journey from North Warwickshire Borough Council's offices in Atherstone to establish what's in store as one of the alternatives to £40-a-year scheme being introduced on June 1 which has been dubbed a "Tory stealth tax".

Judkins is a well-run site with even a 'Re-use Shop' that in turn benefits the local Mary Ann Evans Hospice while Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been used in North Warwickshire's propaganda prior to its fee-paying decision as an example of neighbouring authorities – along with "59 per cent of UK local councils" – already charging for green bin collection.

The Nuneaton recycling centre is one of the substitute offerings North Warwickshire intends to promote to householders not using the new paid-for garden waste service.

Atherstone-based local authority officials will be working with their Warwickshire County Council counterparts in an extensive communications strategy – driving home the benefits of the new scheme while accepting that some people may turn to home composting or using the two closest household waste recycling centres at Lower House Farm, Dordon and Judkins to dispose of the garden waste.

The North Warwickshire council sees home composting as the preferred alternative because of its lower environmental impact. The county council offers discounted compost bins for £10 and food digesters (which can take all food waste) from £30.

The county authority also runs free-to-attend home composting workshops about how to get started.

For those signing up to the green bin scheme – which the ruling Conservative group on the borough council admitted was a decision "not made lightly or with any enthusiasm" but as a direct result of pressures on budgets – it will be a question of opting in to a service operating fortnightly.

And between now and June 1, get ready for Operation Green Bin Overload (OGBO).

Following the decision by the authority's Executive Board, revealed first by Nub News, a press release was circulated to the town and district – explaining the decision.

A report to the borough council's Community and Environment Board has promised a "significant amount of communication with residents".

And the main messages will come thick and fast between now and the launch date at the beginning of June.

The themes will be:

• Why the service is changing;
• What the service is;
• How to sign up;
• Gardeners Club promotion; and
• Alternatives to signing up.

There will be ongoing press releases, ongoing information to town and parish councils, borough council website content, vehicle banners, bin tags, social media posts, information leaflets both online and for public spaces and events, pull-up roller banners, banners at Lower House Farm and participating garden centres, advertising in local publications, emails to North Warwickshire residents signed up for the Warwickshire Waste Newsletter – and an earlier-than-usual edition of the council's own North Talk publication. The report to Monday's board meeting says residents will be able to sign up for the service online and by phone from next month. The existing Extra Garden Waste Service will end on May 31. Residents who use this service will be contacted by post in advance to advise them about the change and how they can sign up. As the garden waste service is anticipated to receive a 40- to 55 per cent sign up (11,343 to 15,597 properties) the printing and posting of permit stickers and letters will be completed by an external company, a method which is widely used by several local authorities for the same purpose. The council will continue to process sign up and take payment in house. Following this, officers will upload the data to a secure portal. An external company will then print and post a permit pack directly to the resident within 10 days. Officers are already in discussion with permit providers and the cost per permit is estimated at £1.05. From the start of the new scheme, collection crews will only empty green bins which display a valid sticker. A database of subscribers will be held centrally which can be referred to if required. To add value and offset the cost to residents of chargeable garden waste collections, officers are continuing to investigate the opportunity of a North Warwickshire Gardeners' Club with discounts or offers at local garden centres. Since the Executive Board decision further discussions with local garden centres have been "positive", the report states, with one confirming real interest. The council currently collects garden and food waste fortnightly in a 240 litre green lidded bin and the annual cost of delivering the garden waste collection to every home in the borough is just short of £500,000. In 2018 the authority introduced the Extra Garden Waste Service allowing residents to choose to have more than one green bin emptied at an annual fee of £40 per bin. Some 461 households are signed up to the service, producing an income of £17,000. The Tory-controlled authority considered it "unfair" to charge everyone for green bin collection as people living in flats do not use it while other residents value the garden waste service and wouldn't want to see it removed. Factoring on a 55 per cent take-up in North Warwickshire – with net income on a lower premise – the authority can expect to make in the range of £377,000 and £514,000 a year, bringing a turnround effect of £1 million on council finances