A PRE-BOOKING system will be introduced at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across Hampshire next month, facilitating between 25,000 and 30,000 visits per week.

Hampshire County Council have announced the measure after long queues have formed outside tips across the county almost every day since they opened on May 11.

It comes after the Gazette reported how one Basingstoke councillor was told that a booking system was "not feasible".

Not many details have been released by HCC as yet, but users wishing to visit tips across the county will be able to book several days in advance, and the new system is expected to come into operation from mid-June.

Further information will be available next week, they say.

Cllr Rob Humby, deputy leader and executive member for economy, transport and environment, said: “Hampshire has one of the largest HWRC networks in the country, and we recognise how Hampshire residents value the service which has been both convenient and effective in promoting recycling and managing waste.

"However, the level of demand we are currently seeing cannot be accommodated with social distancing and safe working requirements without long delays, and therefore we will need to bring in more significant changes.

“We have recently extended opening hours, which has helped, but with very high demand and long queues persisting at a number of sites, we now need to consider other options, including limiting visits with a pre-booking system.

“I’d ask people once again to take notice of highway signs, be considerate of others and not block roads or junctions when queuing.”

Previously, the Gazette has reported how Basingstoke's HWRC on Wade Road has been inundated with queues since the tips opened almost three weeks ago, and the announcement from HCC comes after much scrutiny from the public and nearby businesses on whether they should have implemented a pre-booking system, like that of West Berkshire, or an alternate-day system, like that of Wiltshire, sooner.

And last week, Cllr Gavin James, Liberal Democrat leader on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, told the Gazette that he was told a pre-booking system at Hampshire tips was "not feasible".

He said: "I have already asked about whether a booking system should be in place, as they do in West Berkshire, however I am advised that was not feasible in Hampshire.

“I would have liked to see some sort of online feed of the queue. I am sure many would have not bothered if they knew the wait was so long, however once you have loaded your car and got there it is too late.

“The starting point is if you close the tip for six weeks at the busiest time of year when even more people are at home, you are going to create a problem,” Cllr James continued.

In light of this, the Gazette asked Hampshire County Council a number of detailed questions about their planning process for the reopening of tips across Hampshire, including:

  • Was a booking system, or an alternate-day system considered? If yes, why was it not implemented, and if no, why not?
  • Was the level of persistent traffic seen around the Wade Road site planned for, and what steps have been taken to mitigate its impacts?
  • Why was a sign saying 'do not queue past this point' not put at the Basingstoke site, but put at others?
  • One of the above signs was put in place in Andover, but has been ignored by some users. How did you (plan to) police the signs?

However, this newspaper is yet to receive answers to some of these questions, with Cllr Humby instead saying: “The HWRCs were temporarily closed at the end of March following Government guidelines on non-essential journeys to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Once this guidance on non-essential journeys was updated by the Government, the County Council put in plans to re-open the HWRCs with new measures in place for safe social distancing.

“This means the number of vehicles we can have on site at any one time is much less than before the Coronavirus outbreak, and we put in associated traffic management measures in anticipation of expected traffic at the same time as extensive communications urging residents to consider if they really do need to take their waste to an HWRC at this time. The significant traffic queues seen in the last two weeks since the HWRCs reopened where people have ignored signs and continued to queue have impacted on local people trying to get to work as well as having a detrimental impact on the ability for businesses nearby to get back up and running.

“With the majority of waste coming to the sites being green garden waste, we are encouraged that our colleagues in those districts that suspended green waste collections are considering restarting them, and we ask residents to consider using the kerbside green waste collections offered by their District or Borough Council as well as home composting as an alternative.”

“We are keeping options for reducing queuing under review. We have recently extended opening hours, which seemed to help on most sites at the weekend, but with very high demand and long queues being seen again this week, we will now need to consider other options, including limiting visits with a pre booking system. We recognise that Hampshire residents value the HWRC service which has been both convenient and effective in promoting recycling and managing waste, but the level of demand we are currently seeing cannot be accommodated with social distancing and safe working requirements without long delays, and therefore more significant changes may be needed now.”