Cheshire East residents will be charged for garden waste collection after the budget was approved – but some councillors fear this could prove costly for the environment and the council.

No details have been given as to when charging will start, although it is unlikely to be any time soon as further public consultation has to be undertaken.

And there is no information about how much residents will be charged, or what will happen to the garden waste bins of residents who don't wish to pay.

Questions have also been raised about the impact on the green and food waste composting plant at Leighton Grange, which deals with all that waste from across Cheshire East.

Phil Williams.

Liberal Democrat group leader Phil Williams (Alsager) said at Wednesday's Cheshire East budget meeting: "When Congleton Borough Council [now defunct] introduced a £15 charge for the removal of garden waste, only around a third of households actually used the scheme. Will the take-up be any higher two decades on?"

Congleton councillors David Brown and Sally Holland feared this was an unfair burden on their residents, who had recently seen the closure of their household waste and recycling centre.

Cllr Brown (Con) said: "What we will have is people, particularly those in Congleton, travelling to waste disposal sites, which is a 28 mile round trip, actually damaging the carbon footprint."

He asked what was going to happen to the food waste composting site.

Congleton's Sally Holland.

Cllr Holland (Con) said: "I wonder whether the Labour/Independent administration has any ideas what will happen to all of the existing brown and green bins that will no longer be required, and whether those residents, particularly in newer developments, will be refunded on their investments, with many new developments being required to pay for their bins before taking occupation?"

Conservative group leader Janet Clowes (Wynbunbury) said: "The cost of potential additional tonnage to incineration and landfill when people put their food waste or, indeed their green waste, in their black bins needs to be considered."

But Cllr Susie Akers Smith (Congleton, Ind) took a difference view, saying the council needed to find millions of pounds of savings 'due to the increase in inflation and due to lack of funding from the Conservative government'.

"One of the proposals I fully support is the introduction of a green bin charge. Many of our neighbouring councils already charge for a green bin collection, so at least we have this opportunity to raise the revenue needed to help balance this budget," she said.

Bins in Macclesfield.

"Many households don't compost at the moment. I'd like to think that charging for what has been a free service will encourage residents to compost. Not only is it the best fertiliser for your garden, as well as helping to save our planet, composting is an easy way to reduce the need for a green bin at all."

Council leader Sam Corcoran told the meeting he had mixed views on the charge.

"I recognise that some people don't have gardens and therefore why should they pay through council tax for a service they can't use?" he said, adding that Cheshire East was in a minority of councils not already charging.

He continued: "For me the critical argument is financial. I will keep looking for alternative ways to raise money, but unless we can find £4m [proposed saving] elsewhere then, regretfully, we need to go ahead with this proposal."

It is not known when the garden waste charges will begin, but it is unlikely to be within the next few weeks.