Agenda and minutes

Cllr Chris Williams (Chairman of the Tidworth Area Board) welcomed everyone to a special meeting to discuss the future of the Everleigh Household Recycling Centre.

Cllr Williams introduced the Wiltshire Councillors and Wiltshire Council Officers in attendance, and outlined the format of the meeting:

Cllr Toby Sturgis - Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning (strategic and development management), Property, Waste and Strategic Housing

Cllr Jerry Wickham - Portfolio Holder for Waste

Cllr Jerry Kunkler – Pewsey

Cllr Paul Oatway – Pewsey Vale

Cllr Mark Connolly – Tidworth

Cllr Charles Howard – The Collingbournes and Netheravon

Martin Litherland - Head of Waste Management

Kevin Fielding – Democratic Services Officer

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Stuart Wheeler – Pewsey Area Board member. Burbage + Bedwyns, Wiltshire Council

Humph Jones – Tidworth Town Council

Ian Gibbons - Associate Director Legal & Governance, Wiltshire Council

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were none.

A presentation will be given by Members and Officers of Wiltshire Council on Household Recycling Centres in Wiltshire.

Cllrs Toby Sturgis and Jerry Wickham outlined the reasoning for closing the Everleigh Household Recycling Centre.

Points made by Cllr Toby Sturgis included:

Wiltshire Council – budget context

•        Wiltshire Council currently spends around £900 million each year on more than 350 services.

•        Changing demographics, such as people living longer, coupled with rising inflation and ongoing cuts in funding from central government mean significant savings continue to need to be found.

•        This year the council received £104 million from the Government – next year we anticipate will get £91.6 million. This cut of more than £12 million, combined with the rise in demand for some key front line services and inflation costs, means the council needs to find a further £24 million of savings this financial year.

•        Unfortunately due to the budget situation the council faces, we have been forced to consider further savings from all council services.

Wiltshire Council’s statutory duty

•        Section 51 Environmental Protection Act 1990.

•        Waste Disposal Authorities must provide places where persons resident in its area may deposit their household waste, free of charge.

•        Each place to be situated either within the area of the authority or so as to be reasonably accessible to persons resident in its area.

Other constraints

•        Government carried out consultation in 2015.  Legislation now prevents local authorities for charging residents for entry to use household recycling centres.

•        Any council’s/authorities that charge for entry will have to provide free access to their residents from 2020.

•        Can charge non-householders (e.g. Charities) to use sites, or charge householders for non-household waste (e.g. Tyres, soil and rubble) - our HRCs or online payment systems not currently configured to achieve this.

•        Many other authorities issue permits or have other limitations on entry.  Wiltshire is also considering similar approaches.

Other councils changing their HRCs provision

•        Oxfordshire – Closed their smallest site in 2011, now consulting on reducing sites from 7 to 14.

•        Staffordshire – Proposed reduction from 14 sites to 12.

•        Norfolk – Closing one site, reducing days of opening at three sites and reducing hours.

•        Hampshire – Consultation on proposals, including closing two sites.

•        Surrey – Proposal agreed to reduce opening hours.

•        Lincolnshire – Reduced hours and days (now open four days per week).

The current Wiltshire HRC network

•        11 sites (1 per 19,242 households av.)

•        Opening hours reduced from July 2015, and now open 5 days per week instead of 7.  Hours also now reduced from 9-5pm, to 10-4pm.

•        Staggered closures mean 1 site remains available all week in each of the former Wiltshire district areas.

•        Currently no charges for non-household items, or restrictions on access (permits).  Now under consideration in Wiltshire.

Flytipping

•        Do not anticipate increase as a result of householders deciding to dump waste if a site were to close.

•        Most waste would be likely to be taken to other HRCs.

•        Flytipping is illegal, and majority of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Paul Cowangave a presentation on behalf of the community areas of Tidworth, Pewsey and the villages of AltonBarnes, Stanton StBernard, Woodbrough,Hilcot, Wilsford, North Newnton,Rushall,Upavon, Enford, The Manningfords, Wilcot, Huish and Oare, Wootton Rivers,New Mill,Easton Royal,Milton Lilbourne,Burbage, Eastand WestGrafton, Wilton, Wexcombe,Martin, Collingbourne Kingston & Ducis,Brunton,Ludgershall PerhamDown and Everleigh.

Points made included:

What we know

·       Wiltshire hasa financialshortfall thatrequires addressingby alldepartments.HillsWaste Management claimsthat byclosing Everleighthere wouldbe anannual savingof 135,000KThereare 11 householdrecycling centrescounty wide.

·       EverleighRC isone ofthe oldestand smallest.

·       Everleighsupports averylarge ruralarea, ithashad little orno investmentsince 1997. There are905visitsa week. 47060per year.

·       Accessto Marlborough RCis poorand createsserious congestionon theapproach roads; this also appliesto Devizesplus thetraffic  toand fromDevizesisappalling.

·     Everleighhas good accessfor thepublic andthe contractor.

·       TheWiltshire CoreStrategy identifies 700+ houses inTidworth,290 inPewsey plus 280in thevillages ofthe Pewseyarea Board by 2026.(1300plus).

What we think we know

·       Anestimatedadditionalaverage of5 mileseach waywill haveto betravelled tovisit thealternative sites.10 x47060 =470600miles perannum, (1/2 million)

·       HMRC'sand WiltshireCouncil's agreemileage costsare between46.9p fora 1000ccand upto 65pfor a 1200cccar.

·       At0.48p permile asan averagethisclosure willcostthis community470600 X0.48p =225888 poundsperannum andrising. Thisis notequitable withthe restof thecounty.

WhatWe Don'tKnow

·       Thefuture recyclingpolicy andplans tomeet theincreasing nationaltargets andrequirements of our communities,and howthey willbe achieved.

·       Howmuch thisclosure willcost WiltshireCouncil, i.edecommissioning, ongoingmonitoring costs, compensation's etc?

·       Howmuch theadditional flytipping willcost.

·       Whatalternatives toclosure ofthis sitehave been considered? What incomerevenue streamshave beenconsidered?

·       Whatprovision hasbeen madefor ArmyRebasing andthe additional 1300 plushouses inthe area? Howthis proposalwill meetWiltshire CouncilsC02 reductionrequirements ½ million extracar miles and rising?

·       Whyhas noinvestment been madeto keepthis siteto amodern standard?

·       Wiltshire RecyclingCentres arein effectend of lifecentres.Noproducts areaccepted andrecycled toathirdparty inits deliveredstate asin manyother Counties,this raisesrevenue, avoidslandfill, reducesreprocessing costsand C02emissions. Hasthis beenconsidered?

OurRecommendations

·       Thisproposalis withdrawnuntil thecontract renewal2017 ongoingcost 270000pounds. Full and opendiscussionsarehad onthe futureof "recycling" in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Chairman then invited any questions from the floor.

These included:

Wiltshire Council charges £40 per annum to collect its residents garden/green waste. Could the money raised through this offset the costs of keeping the Everleigh HRC open?

a.Money raised through the collection of garden/green waste is not pure profit. Twice as many residents signed up for the new scheme which means that more refuse collections are required to collect the waste etc, which have increased costs of running extra vehicles and collection crews etc.

By closing the Everleigh HRC Wiltshire Council only expects to save £135k per year.

a.Any saving that Wiltshire Council can make are important to trying to balance its books against the continued cuts imposed by Central Government. The harsh reality is that austerity is beginning to bite, Wiltshire Council has to make savings across the board.

Why does Wiltshire Council need to close an important facility that will impact on local communities?

a.Wiltshire Council has tried not to impact its communities when having to make savings, many other local authorities have cut services that Wiltshire Council have been able to leave untouched during this time of austerity. It should also be remembered that Wiltshire Council has not increased its council tax for five years.

Could Wiltshire Council keep Everleigh open but perhaps reduce its openings times to two days per week?

a.Cllr Sturgis advised that he would discuss with Hills how much it would cost to run Everleigh HRC as a two day opening centre. (Note that attendees felt that Friday & Saturday would be the two best days for the HRC to be open).

Could Wiltshire Council not charge residents to use its recycling centres?

a.Unfortunately Central Government legislation prevents local authorities from charging to use its HRCs.

Could Wiltshire Council not re-negotiate a better contract with Hills?

a.Wiltshire Council would be discussing its contract with Hills during January 2016.

Wiltshire Council should be looking at all its HRCs, not just Everleigh.

a.No decision has been made by Wiltshire Council as yet as to the possible closure of the Everleigh HRC.

If the Everleigh HRC is not used enough, then maybe Wiltshire Council should improve its marketing of this HRC, perhaps using social media.

a.Wiltshire Council advertises/markets its HRCs on its website, the communities of Pewsey and Tidworth are not using the Everleigh facility enough.

What will happen to the site if the HRC is closed?

a.The land could be used for other uses, probably not suitable for housing.

Surely with the ongoing housing developments being being built in and around Tidworth, and Army Rebasing the area needs a local HRC?

a.ThePewsey/Tidworth community area would still be adequately covered by the Amesbury, Devizes and Marlborough HRCs.

Points made from the floor included:

All residents should have reasonable access to HRCs, Wiltshire cannot expect local residents to drive to Marlborough, Devizes or Amesbury to do their recycling.

Both Marlborough and Devizes HRCs are not reasonable alternatives to Everleigh, both can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The following recommendation was tabled by Cllr Chris Williams and was agreed:

·         Thatthe CabinetMember forStrategic Planning,Property Waste and Strategic Housinghaving listenedto andtaken intoaccount theweight of public correspondenceand representationsmade at thismeeting,  is requested to makea recommendationto keep EverleighHousehold RecyclingCentre openfor thegood andbenefit ofthe residentsof the Pewseyand Tidworthcommunity areas.