Norfolk county council is consulting on proposals for a 2 public charge at nine of its 20 household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) in a bid to cut costs.
As part of a raft of money-saving service changes at HWRCs currently being consulted on by the council, from 2016/17 Norfolk residents may be forced to pay 2 each time they use nine of the county’s current 11 part-time HWRCs.
The county council needs to make up a 189 million shortfall in its overall budget over the next three years and it forecasts that introducing a 2 HWRC charge per visit will save 280,000 in 2016/17.
If the proposal is introduced, the council said it could potentially install entry barriers at the affected recycling centres.
The other 11 HWRCs at Caister, Dereham, Hempton, Ketteringham, Kings Lynn, Mayton Wood, Mile Cross, Thetford, Wereham, Morningthorpe and Sheringham will remain free for the public to use. The council has a legal duty to provide places for residents to deposit household waste free of charge.
A council spokeswoman said the proposals were not ‘expected to be popular’, but that savings made would help keep all of Norfolk’s HWRCs open.
She said: “None of the proposals being put forward for frontline services so that the county council can bridge the unprecedented funding gap that we are facing in Norfolk are expected to be popular.
“The consultation ends on 12 December and depending on the outcome of that, should councillors go ahead with the package of proposals put forward for recycling centres, it would help to avoid permanently closing any of the 20 sites in our recycling centre network – and mean that nearly 90% of residents would still be within 8.5 miles of a free site at weekends – the most popular time to use recycling centres.”
Somerset
It is not the first time a council has introduced a public charge for using HWRCs. In 2011, the Somerset Waste Partnership began was criticised by communities secretary Eric Pickles for charging residents 2 per visit at four HWRCs in the county in order make budget savings (see letsrecycle.com story).
Furthermore, Norfolk county council is proposing to reduce the opening hours at another five of its HWRCs Ashill, Heacham, Morningthorpe, Strumpshaw and Worstead so that they operate on a part time basis from 2015/16, which it believes will save 167,000. This would increase the number of part-time HWRCs to 11.
‘it would help to avoid permanently closing any of the 20 sites in our recycling centre network – and mean that nearly 90% of residents would still be within 8.5 miles of a free site at weekends – the most popular time to use recycling centres’
Norfolk county council spokeswoman
From March 2014, operation of 19 of Norfolks HWRCs will be undertaken by the councils wholly-owned subsidiary Norfolk Environmental Waste Service (NEWS), when the current contract with May Gurney expires (see letsrecycle.com story).
Tyres
Also being considered is a public charge for the disposal of tyres at HWRCs and restricting the number of centres in the county that accept them, which the council forecasts will save 39,000 from next year.
The charge would be 2.50 per tyre with a limit of up to five vehicle tyres per household per month.
Paint
Other council proposals to cut costs include scrapping its paint reuse schemes at eight HWRCs from next year and instead only accepting paint tins containing liquid paint during an annual amnesty rather than all year round.
444 tonnes of liquid paint was disposed at the HWRCs in 2012/13, but the council said cutting this service would save 300,000 and that interest in the schemes has been very low.
However, the consultation document acknowledges that if the service is scrapped there is a risk that residents will try and dispose of paint through their household waste collection or put it down the drain.
Contracts
The proposals are outlined in a council report which went before the Environment, Transport & Development Overview & Scrutiny Panel last week (November 26), which also highlights plans to recycle the countys street sweepings from next year to bring about savings of 230,000.
From next year, NEWS has arranged for water to be extracted from street sweepings and for grit and stones in the material to be used for aggregates. The council dealt with 7,000 tonnes of this material last year.
And, the report also states the councils intention to renegotiate its waste disposal contracts with NEWS and FCC Environment in order to reduce costs on 50,000 of the 210,000 tonnes of waste collected by the council each year, with the hope of saving a total of 100,000.
According to the council, most of these waste disposal, landfill and treatment contracts expire in 2015 with an option to extend to 2016.
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Norfolks government grant is projected to fall by 91 million and the council claims to have already cuts its overall spending by 140 million over the last three years.
The councils consultation on planning proposals and council tax 2014-17 began on September 19 2013 and runs until December 12 2013.
In October, the council agreed to plough ahead with plans for the controversial 500 million energy-from-waste incinerator in Kings Lynn, despite with withdrawal of 169 million in Defra funding. Communities secretary Eric Pickles decision on the proposed facility is due in January 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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