Agenda item

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 Wiltshirepost 2017.

·       Theredistribution oftoys, cycles,furniture, reclaimedbuilders materials,bath roomsuits, etcare notHills corebusinesssothey willhave littleinterest inperforming thistask (arethey theright contractor for theway forwardpost 2017).

·       Anyfuture proposalis thesame acrossthe wholecounty andnot onesection being askedto support the servicedisproportionately.

·       Tosupport theserviceinthe longterm andfor futureinvestment aform ofvisit chargeis madeeven if weneed tolobby Parliamentto changethe presentruling.

·       One poundper visitwould net1.6million poundswhich couldbe spentin muchneeded investmentin recycling.  

 .

·       Lookat themerits ofsetting up atask forceof Councillor'sincluding Townand Parish,Wiltshire Officers toseetheway ahead.

·       Anysolution hasto befair toevery taxpayerin ourCounty

The Chairman thanked Paul Cowen for his presentation.