Residents in Hampshire, including Portsmouth and Southampton, are now being asked to register their vehicles in order to avoid a £5 per visit charge.
However, Dorset residents will not be charged and do not need to register or take any action, as “separate arrangements have been made”. These will be announced this Spring.
This comes after Dorset council said it was to spend £405,000 ensuring that its residents have access to HWRCs outside of the county last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
System
The council explained that the system will be controlled by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) softaware, and an exact date for its roll out will be announced soon.
Under the system, Hampshire residents can register up to three vehicles via the council website, which will allow them continued unrestricted access.
Owners of vehicles with unregistered plates will be charged £5 per visit at all of Hampshire’s 24 HWRCs.
Charges for non-household waste, including soil and rubble, plasterboard and asbestos will remain.
The council also released the below graphic explaining the registration system.
Recycling
Councillor Rob Humby, deputy leader and executive member for the economy, transport and environment at Hampshire county council, said: “We know that people living close to the Hampshire border often use Hampshire’s HWRCs, and we want to continue to accommodate them and encourage recycling.”
Cllr Humby added: “However, to make this fair to Hampshire council taxpayers who are already contributing to the £100 million annual costs of dealing with Hampshire’s household waste, we are introducing a fee for non-Hampshire residents.”
In May 2019, Hampshire announced that residents with vans also had to pay for a permit, those which did so will not have to re-register them.
Hampshire’s HWRCs are currently operated by Veolia.
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