Tips could shut to make savings
ALDERSHOT SITE UNDER THREAT AS COUNTY CONSULTS ON PROPOSALS
AS many as 12 tips in Hampshire could close in a bid to save the county council £1.6million per year.
Hampshire County Council’s plan will also impact opening hours and days, and change the types of waste accepted at the household waste recycling centres (HWRC).
The local authority has presented its proposal as part of the saving plan to meet the forecasted £132m budget shortfall by April 2025, with all departments asked to reduce costs and provide the legal minimum of services required by law.
As part of the proposals, the county council has detailed its plan, which includes the future closure of 12 HWRCs that would save up to £1.6m a year.
The county council has targeted Hartley Wintney, Alresford, Bishops Waltham, Fair Oak and Hayling Island as the smallest sites with the
poorest performing and most expensive to run. The closure of these five would save around £500,000 per year.
Furthermore, due to operational challenges and investment requirements, closures could happen in the Aldershot, Bordon, Casbrook, Hedge End, Marchwood, Petersfield and Somerley sites.
The county council said that with the closure of the 12 sites, “a larger proportion of Hampshire households would be affected”. It added that closing certain sites may impact the employees working at them, which Veolia manages on behalf of the local authority.
In such cases, the staff who work at those sites and are employed by
Veolia may be affected and face job losses.
Another way to save money on waste management would be by reducing the opening hours of tips, which the county council estimates could save £1.2m, but this will require a reduction in opening times of around 57%, which is equivalent to around three days per week across the network. Furthermore, limiting the disposal of expensive waste types, such as soil and rubble, to a few designated sites, and waste containers for rarely deposited waste types will be removed to free up space. Additionally, some waste management sites can become “recycling only” by restricting the deposit of non-recyclable materials such as household waste.
The county council is also “exploring” ways for charging new fees, such as a “premium booking slot”, which would provide access outside of the standard operating hours, or the sale of “chargeable items” like gloves or sacks on site.
Operational proposals may be implemented earlier, while any proposals will be carried out from the summer of 2025, potentially in stages. Hampshire’s network of tips is the largest in England, with 24 sites of different sizes, accessibility and levels of efficiency, costing more than £10m a year to operate. In 2022/23, Hampshire residents made 2.1m bookings to deposit almost 120,000 tonnes of household waste across the network.
Public consultation on the plans is open for residents until March 31.
People can give their feedback via an online consultation response form, or a printable version can be downloaded if it is preferred to complete the form offline.
Residents can also email a written response directly to the county council using insight@hants.gov.uk, or write to Freepost HAMPSHIRE (please also write PandO, IEU, FM09 on the back of the envelope).