Candidate warns tip closures would lead to fly-tipping and rat infestations

THE plan to close tips in Hampshire will increase the number of unlicensed rubbish removal companies, fly-tipping and rat infestations, a Hampshire parliamentary candidate has warned.

The proposal is part of Hampshire County Council’s savings programme to fill the £132 million budget gap for 2025/26. Under the proposal, which is currently under consultation until March 31, 12 tips across Hampshire could close in a strategy to save £1.6 million per year.

The county council’s plan will also see opening times and the types of waste accepted change at the household waste recycling centres (HWRC).

The Conservative administration has targeted Alresford, Bishops

Waltham, Fair Oak, Hartley Wintney, and Hayling Island as the smallest sites, which it said are the poorest performing and most expensive to run.

The closure of these five would save around £500,000 per year.

On top of that, due to operational challenges and investment requirements, the Aldershot, Bordon, Casbrook, Hedge End, Marchwood, Petersfield and Somerley sites could also be shut.

Khalil Yousuf, who has been selected as the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for the new cross-border Farnham and Bordon constituency, said: “Borden is a tier three tip, so it serves somewhere in the region of 35,000 people, but you have to bear in mind that it’s not just the 35,000 currently there. It’s also the additional houses that are planned.

“If the tip closes, it will impact the current residents and the huge infrastructure that’s being developed within Bordon as well because there is a huge amount of housing development in Bordon.”

Mr Yousuf warned the plan would negatively affect residents who would need to travel at least seven miles to Alton to get rid of rubbish.

He added: “I visited the Bordon recycling facility on a weekday during the day, but there were still 12 or 13 cars queuing to get in, so it’s a busy site. The figures that I have got from the council suggest that it has a utilisation of at least 74 per cent, which is pretty high.

“If the closure happens, then the residents will have to travel at least seven miles to Alton to deposit their recycling, which has a massive impact on Alton itself.”

He said: “Residents are very, very concerned about it. They’re concerned about overdevelopment in Bordon without infrastructure. They’re concerned about council cuts, and there is nothing we’re hearing from the government that is anything more than a sticking plaster.

“Local residents are really suffering. They have been seeing cuts, not just recently but over the course of the past 10 or 12 years, and actually, it’s really not fair because these are essential services.

“It’s not like the public doesn’t pay for them; they do pay for them in very significant council tax, and they pay for it through lots of indirect taxation as well.”

He added: “When the council tips shut down, fly-tipping will increase. There is already a huge problem of unlicensed waste carriers flytipping across the constituency, which will also increase. That will also increase the rat problem; both are linked together.

“There’s a very good reason why waste sites are a statutory public service: they have to be provided by law, and they have to be provided without charge.

“The rules about how much you provide and how long they’re to remain open are very flexible, but fundamentally, there is a statutory duty to provide them, and the reason is that there’s a public health benefit in doing so.”