Plan to cut opening hours for recycling

The report said it was estimated the revised times could achieve savings ‘in the region of’ £20,000 a year.

It said: “Having standard opening and closing hours operating all year round will also reduce any potential confusion associated with seasonal variations.”

Further changes proposed in the document include the number of free temporary permits for residents wish- ing to access either site with a commercial-type vehicles or with large trailers be reduced from 12 visits per year to six.

A further three visits could also be allowed where residents could show ‘genuine need due to special circumstances’.

A Halton residents only scheme to deposit waste at either site could also be implemented in a bid to find fur- ther savings.

A study undertaken in November found 5% of those using the facilities were non-residents of the borough.

Warrington residents were the most common non-Halton visitors to the Johnsons Lane site,

The report said this is likely to be because of the former’s boundary proximity to the latter and it being closer for some Warrington residents than the HWRC at Gateworth.

The greatest number of non-Halton visitors to the Picow Farm Road facility were from Frodsham.

With the council’s annual cost of recycling or disposing of waste depos- ited at the sites being around £760,000, the report calculated than costs of £38,000 are incurred by ‘dealing with waste that should have been paid for by other disposal authorities and who make no financial contribution to the council’s costs’.

A sticker for Halton residents only to use the borough’s HWRCs has been drawn up which would be attached to a car window and bear a vehicle’s registration.

The report said: “There will be some administrative costs involved in implementing such a scheme (for which no charge could be made) however, it is anticipated that any costs will be outweighed by the savings achieved from avoiding the cost of disposing of ‘non-Halton’ waste.”

Plans to charge for nonhousehold waste have also been created for residents who wish to deposit hardcore, which includes bricks, soil and rubble.

Proposed charges would ‘likely be in the region’ of £2.50 to £3 per standard sized rubble sack.

Disposing of hardcore for the council is around £45,000 a year and the report said other local authorities which have implemented charging schemes have experienced the tonnage of these materials deposited reduce by up to 75%.

The above proposals have been recommended to be endorsed by the PPB and would then be presented to the executive board for rubber-stamping in April, before being rolled out on a phased basis in the new financial year.

The report said: “The financial and resource implications of the proposals contained within the report are not known at this stage.

“However, it is envisaged that each element will result in cost reductions.”