Waste centre hours cut
● OPENING hours of Halton’s two household waste centres have been cut following a meeting of borough spending chiefs last Thursday.
Halton’s facilities, on Johnson’s Lane in Widnes and Picow Farm Lane in Runcorn have been open from 8am-8pm between April and September, and 8am-6pm October-March.
But that is is soon to change, however, after the executive board of Halton Borough Council backed plans to cut opening hours.
The sites will now only be open from 9am-5pm all year round.
The decision follows research that has found the centres are at their quietest during the first and last hours of opening, a report published ahead of the board meeting said.
Other changes to be imposed include an amendment to the current HWRC (Halton Waste Recycling Centres) Vehicle Permit Scheme, with the number of temporary permits that each household is eligible to receive to be reduced from 12 per year to six.
A ‘resident-only policy’ is also to be introduced, which limits access to the council’s HWRCs to Halton residents only and prohibits access to nonresidents who are visiting.
The report said Halton’s two sites currently open for longer hours than sites in Warrington, Cheshire West And Chester and across Merseyside.
A fee of between £2.50 and £3 per rubble sack of deposited hardcore is also due to be launched.
The report said the running costs of the waste and recycling centres have grown from £1,182,286 in 2014-15 to an estimated £1,428,867 in 2017-18.
Council officers recently conducted a user survey at the sites, to determine the number of visitors per hour, and the areas they came from.
The survey was carried out for a fortnight, over seven days per week and covered all opening hours.
The new hours will be phased in from 2018-19.