Recycling Scheme Booking ‘Bonkers’
KENT BARKER
HIP Readers have condemned Council proposals to introduce a booking system at recycling sites.
East Sussex County Council is considering introducing a booking system for its household waste recycling sites, including Hastings’ Freshfields in Bexhill. But if the response of our readers is anything to go by, the idea is getting a very frosty reception. “Booking is NOT going to encourage recycling, just make it harder,” said one reader on Instagram.
The County Council says “Booking systems for Household Waste Recycling Site (HWRS) visits are currently used successfully in Kent, West Sussex and Hampshire” and they claim it could “help save as much as £50,000 a year.”
When we asked our readers on social media for their views, they gave a universal thumbs down, with not a single positive response. One Hastings resident said: “I’d rather queue than have to book. It’s more convenient. Who ever plans a trip to the tip? If a booking system is introduced, it won’t be long before start charging.” Others said: “Why? It works as it is now!”; “Bonkers”; “What a stupid idea. No reason for it.” and “Brace ourselves for an increase in fly tipping.”
East Sussex has a ‘network’ of ten sites which between them get more than a million visits a year and they say they are getting busier. They argue that around half the councils in England operate some sort of booking system many providing the ability to book on the day, through mobile apps, by telephone or on the web. The introduction of a booking system here would, they say, mean less queuing, less congestion at the site, and would act as a deterrent to traders trying to tip business waste for free.
But local residents believe it would be “asking for trouble”, and one sarcastically posted: “There’s so little to do in Hastings that the council has decided to make the tip its big cultural attraction. So obviously ticketing is needed.”
Additional reporting Erin Ward.
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Bonkers. This will encourage fly tipping. Also – I parked outside (perfectly legal – no lines there) and walked in with two sheets of cardboard to avoid a 20 minute queue. I was met by two aggressive employees who started filming me “no walk ins!!”. Suffice to say the cardboard wasn’t recycled….
By all means criticise Councils if they deserve it but I can’t see what the problem is here. Having lived in various areas where a booking system has been introduced, they worked well and reduced time-wasting queueing. I expect they also deterred people using the centres who were not entitled to. The proposed system is good provided you can book without having to wait days for a slot. As for the comment “who plans a trip?” – well who doesn’t?
How would £50,000 a year be saved by a booking system? What would the set up and maintenance of such a system cost?
If the idea is to stop commercial chancers dumping their business waste without paying their charge then there are other ways of doing this. Some councils require suitable IDs from the client – a domestic address tied to proof of identity – but rarely enforced except when the refuse looks iffy. A ban on trucks, trailers and vans also maybe. Not perfect but it does work quite well, and ordinary people don’t get hassled.
‘Currently used successfully’ – presumably this means there is evidence that more waste is being appropriately disposed of as a result of a booking process. Hope it does not simply mean that the system has been introduced without reference to any other measure of its success.
If people who do not book join the queue into the depot,how do they get turned around as there is no way to turn people away unless you have a man checking on the main road before entering the site.