Issue - meetings

To consider a report from the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services.

Decision

(a)       That an additional £405,000 in the 2020/21 budget to cover payments to Hampshire County Council (HCC) and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) be provided  to allow Dorset residents continued access to Somerley, Millhams, Christchurch and Nuffield HRC’s; 

(b)       That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services in consultation with the Executive Director for Place to finalise arrangements with HCC and BCP councils.

(c)        That the provision of a new Household Recycling Centre (HRC) and waste transfer facility in the east of the County be investigated as part of a wider HRC review;

(d)       That a survey be undertaken of the use of all Dorset Council HRCs by residents outside Dorset, to help inform the HRC review and future HRC strategy.

Members were reminded that at its meeting in July, Cabinet considered a report on the access to Hampshire County Council’s Somerley Household Recycling Centre (“HRC”) and agreed that a decision should be deferred pending further discussion of options with Hampshire County Council (HCC).

The Portfolio Holder for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services set out the report which provided an update on these discussions and set out recent proposal by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) for similar arrangements for the use of HRCs in their areas from April 2020.

The Portfolio Holder reported that HCC was intending to charge non-resident users for Somerely HRC, if this charge was not met by Dorset Council.  This was likely to increase congestion and costs at the Wimborne HRC as well as residents travelling further to dispose of their waste adding to carbon emissions.

Members were advised that Wimborne HRC was already operating at capacity with queues and delays occurring frequently. Any additional usage of this site would impact on new and existing users and with further impact on residential properties and businesses who share the road to the site. It was proposed that a search for a suitable replacement start immediately taking into account emerging changes to national policy.

It was proposed that to avoid any additional costs and delays at Somerley HRC as a result of residents paying at the gate, Dorset Council contribute to HCC’s cost of operating the site.  This would be based on costs provided by HCC on usage by Dorset residents and would need to be on-going until a solution was found for HRC provision in the Dorset area.

In response to questions from non-executive members, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that there was no indication the Somerset or Devon County Councils had cross-border issues or intention to introduce similar measures for non-residents in the future.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that conversations would continue with local councillors, in particular at Wimborne Town Council, as the council tried to find a solution the future arrangements for the Wimborne site.

Decision

(a)       That an additional £405,000 in the 2020/21 budget to cover payments to Hampshire County Council (HCC) and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) be provided  to allow Dorset residents continued access to Somerley, Millhams, Christchurch and Nuffield HRC’s; 

(b)       That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services in consultation with the Executive Director for Place to finalise arrangements with HCC and BCP councils.

(c)        That the provision of a new Household Recycling Centre (HRC) and waste transfer facility in the east of the County be investigated as part of a wider HRC review;

(d)       That a survey be undertaken of the use of all Dorset Council HRCs by residents outside Dorset, to help inform the HRC review and future HRC strategy.

To consider a recommendation from the Place Scrutiny Committee held on 10 July 2019.

Decision

That a decision be deferred pending further discussion with Hampshire County Council to discuss options for the use of Somerley Household Recycling Centre by Dorset residents.

(The Deputy Leader took the Chair for this item.)

The Deputy Leader proposed that consideration of a recommendation from the Place Scrutiny Committee meeting on 10 July 2019 relating to the future use of Somerley Household Recycling Centre by Dorset residents be deferred pending further discussion with Hampshire County Council.  A meeting with the Leader of Hampshire County Council was being arranged to discuss this and other cross-border issues. 

Decision

1.       That a decision be deferred pending further discussion with Hampshire County Council, with all options on the table.

Reason for Decision

A meeting is being arranged with Hampshire County Council to discuss options for the use of Somerley Household Recycling Centre by Dorset residents.

To consider a report from the Cabinet Member for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services prior to a decision being made by the Cabinet at their meeting on 30 July 2019.

Members considered a report that outlined the charges that Hampshire County Council proposed to introduce for non-residents at their Household Recycling Centre (HRC) from April 2020.  This report would also be considered by the Cabinet at their meeting on 30 July 2019.  It was highlighted that 56% of the users of Hampshire County Council’s Somerley HRC near Ringwood were Dorset residents.

The Head of Commercial Waste and Strategy highlighted a survey that had been conducted with the local residents who currently used the Somerley HRC.

He noted that whichever option was selected Dorset Council would incur further costs, either in terms of a direct payment to Hampshire County Council or in terms of consequential costs within Dorset.  The recommendation to the Cabinet was that there would be no payment to Hampshire as there was no budget for it.

In response to a question from a member about the different items taken to the HRC rather than put in the kerbside bins and whether this had been considered, the Head of Commercial Waste and Strategy responded that this had been driven by Hampshire County Council and the advice to residents would be go to their own (Dorset) HRC to dispose of such items.

The Vice-Chairman made reference to the £225k income for non-household waste disposal and asked about expenditure for fly tipping across the County. The Head of Commercial Waste and Strategy advised that the costs of fly tipping would be considerable smaller and undertook to provide further information outside of the meeting.  Members were reminded that income was gained from non-household waste and the responsibility of this was passed to the contractor. 

Following a question about Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) at the HRC, officers advised that this was not operational at the moment but was planning to be introduced in January 2020.  However, Hampshire would prefer not to use this system for Dorset residents.

One member made reference to the £60k that had been budgeted for Hampshire but to date had not been used and therefore felt there was budget provision for this service.

The Chairman invited the local members to speak:-

Toni Coombs, Councillor for Verwood advised members that she had been involved in this issue for 3 years. She had lived in Verwood since 1991 and had enjoyed free access to HRCs during this period. Cross border charging started in the London area and had a ripple effect, which continued to happen across the country. She felt one authority should not be subsidising another authority.  Recently she had attended the Portfolio Holders decision day at Hampshire County Council, whilst the decision had not changed it had been agreed there would be more time for the decision to be made. A large consultation had been carried out with over 1500 responses. The HRC was 0.9 miles from the edge of Verwood and Cllr Coombs highlighted the other areas that would be affected. She felt there would be a cost to Dorset whatever happened.  She accepted there was no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7