A NEW charge is to be introduced at tips across the county, billing those who do not live in Hampshire to dump waste at the facilities.

For the first time surveillance technology will be used to police the issue.

Non-county residents will pay £5 each time they use the region’s 24 sites, such as Bar End in Winchester and Prospect Road in Alresford, as Hampshire County Council looks to balance the books because the “cost of managing household waste continues to rise”.

Civic chiefs estimate that it costs the council £500,000 each year to process waste brought in by non-residents and these charges will help keep open the tips, under threat of closure last year. Among those earmarked for closures was Alresford and opening hours at the others were curtailed.

As part of the new proposals, due to be given the go-ahead on Monday October 29, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) barrier systems will be used, only allowing free access for vehicles registered to Hampshire addresses.

When a vehicle comes into a centre that isn’t on the list, it will be flagged to site staff who will ask for the charge.

This comes just over a year after other charges – to dispose of non-household waste – were introduced at the centres, some of which had opening hours slashed to prevent closures.

 

The new charge will come in from April 1, 2019.

County councillor Rob Humby, the authority’s environment and transport chief, said: “I want to be fair to Hampshire council taxpayers which is why we are looking at the potential of non-Hampshire residents contributing to the cost of this service. HWRCs are the most efficient and cost effective way of recycling and it’s important that we do everything we can to maintain our network of sites.”

The council adds that, depending on their location, some HWRCs have significant use by non-Hampshire residents, with nearly 60 per cent of visitors to the Somerley tip, near Ringwood, and over 40 per cent of visitors to the Aldershot centre, in the north-east of Hampshire, from outside the county.

However, not all agree with the new fee. County councillor for Romsey Mark Cooper, who fought for the retention of the Bunny Lane site on the outskirts of the town, said: “This is problematic as £5 is a significant amount and patently designed to discourage cross-county boundary waste disposal.

“Presently, a number of Hampshire residents living near the county boundary will use HWRCs in neighbouring authorities. Those authorities will respond in kind.

“That means residents may have to travel further to use their ‘own’ currently free HWRC. Longer journeys means more fuel use and more greenhouse gas generation which will partly offset the benefit of recycling.”

It remains to be seen whether fly-tipping will also increase as a result.

As well as this new out-of-county charge, the authority is also proposing a £15 administration fee for van and trailer permits. This bill, civic chiefs says, will cover the costs of providing the permit to allow 12 visits within a 12 month period. This will be available to Hampshire residents only. Commercial vehicles from anywhere can continue to use Hampshire HWRCs on a chargeable basis.