Dear Editor,

According to officially collated data from Defra, “flytipping incidents” in the Test Valley Local Authority area have increased by 122 per cent from the period 2012 - to 2021. Flytipping incidents have increased on average 13 per cent year-over-year during this time.

The Household Waste Recycling Centre in Scott Close, Andover:

a) has failed to return to frictionless operation following [measures necessitated by] Covid-19 by insisting on the retention of a booking system

b) prevents same day booking using this system In justifying the removal of frictionless operations across the whole county, the Hampshire County Council “Decision Report” document (attached) fails to include flytipping’s adverse environmental and carbon mitigation effects, not to mention the costs of flytipping removal.

Furthermore, only popularity surveying uses of the booking system disproportionally skews the results favouring a cohort likely to be satisfied. Only a public consultation, including non-users, will accurately measure satisfaction.

Passing off operational benefits to Hampshire County Council as benefits to Local Authority area Taxpayers using selective data and ignoring flytipping is disingenuous. The imposition of unnecessary bureaucracy at Scott Close will not reverse the long-term flytipping trend and will likely exacerbate the problem further.

Hampshire Country Council should change their decision and allow same-day frictionless patronage for eligible users.

Kevin Morris

Andover