More restrictions on Household Recycling Centre use
Wiltshire Council wants to introduce charges for using the county's tips in the 2017/18 financial year. Before that, in September this year, there will be a permit system for people bringing in waste in vans or large trailers. There will be no charge for the permits at this stage, but there will be a limit of 12 visits per year.
The cost to the council of producing the permits is £20,000 per year, though WC hopes to make a profit by having less material to be recycled or landfilled.
WC also says the restrictions will help resolve the queueing problem: "After the Council received complaints about the congestion at HRCs, the Portfolio Holder for Waste visited all of the sites and identified that vans and trailers often add to congestion within the sites themselves and take longer to unload. Inevitably this adds to the problem of queuing vehicles."
In other words, the queues are caused by inconsiderate members of the public insisting on using the HRCs, not of course by the council's decision to cut the opening days and hours.
Although there's been no consultation on the changes WC says that: "The democratic process of publication of the Intention of the Cabinet Member to make the decision is designed to ensure open, fair and honest administration."