New Forest District Council’s opposition to Hampshire County Council’s proposed closures of Marchwood and Somerley waste and recycling centres moves step closer amid hazardous waste fears

IN opposing plans to close two local household waste and recycling centres the district council council has warned residents could dispose of hazardous materials in their general waste.

The tip facilities at Marchwood and Somerley, near Ringwood, are among 12 under threat, as Conservative-run Hampshire County Council seeks to meet a forecasted £132m budget shortfall by April 2025.

As reported in the A&T, Cllr Jack Davies, who represents Pennington, recently urged the leader of NFDC to oppose the plans in its formal response to the consultation on the grounds it could lead to an increase in flytipping.

A meeting of the council’s resources and transformation overview and scrutiny panel, which met on Thursday in last week, agreed the closures would impact residents, the local environment and the council itself.

In a report to the committee, officers said residents may begin using their waste wheelie bins to dispose of inappropriate materials such as paint and electrical items.

The authority would also miss the opportunity to divert these materials to recycling, it stated.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Alan Alvey suggested one way to avoid the closures would be for residents to pay a small fee to use the tips.

He said: “It has been put to me by residents that one way out of this problem is to make a small charge for everyone who uses these recycling centres.

“At the moment you have to register your vehicle before you go, so it should be possible to add into that process the payment of a small charge.”

Cllr Christine Ward said an alternative could be to reduce opening hours.

“I don’t think we should ask people who go to the tip that use their own cars and fuel to then be paying to go there.

“It may be more cost effective to have one day less a week than charging people to use the tips.”

The council’s draft response to the consultation does support the idea of introducing charges for discretionary services, subject to consultation.

However, it adds the county council should be “mindful” of the potential impact to residents on low incomes.

Reducing the opening days and/or hours of centres would be supported by NFDC only as an alternative to closures, the report added.

The committee’s recommendations will be further discussed at full council on Monday.