Waste Wars! Hampshire residents banned from West Berkshire's tips

Councillors agree to restrict access with new permit system

WEST Berkshire Council has agreed to push ahead with plans to ban residents in Hampshire, some of whom live just yards over the district boundary, from using its rubbish tips.

The move to issue permits to West Berkshire residents in order to gain access to the Newtown Road Waste Recycling Centre and the Padworth Recycling Centre was agreed at a council executive meeting last night (Wednesday).

Speaking at the meeting, executive member for Communities and Protection Marcus Franks (Con, Speen) said the decision came about due to Hampshire County Council’s decision to pull £200,000 worth of funding to cover the cost of disposing of its resident’s waste at the West Berkshire sites back in December last year.

The plans have angered residents in north Hampshire who now, rather than a short journey across the boundary, face up to a 30-mile round trip to Basingstoke or Andover to dispose of their household waste.

Councillors also reaffirmed March's proposal to withdraw £460,000 of funding into the re3 waste partnership which has since led to the banning of West Berkshire residents from using the Smallmead tip in Reading.

Residents on the eastern edge of the district are also now facing a 30-mile round trip to Newbury to dispose of their household waste as a result.

However an extension to Padworth Recycling Centre to a full waste disposal site was also approved.

A new booking system will also be introduced across the district’s waste disposal sites for those looking to dispose of waste using commercial vehicles.

There are currently no time frames to implement the proposals.

Residents across the area were quick to criticise the proposals as a whole amid fears of an increase in illegal fly-tipping, which West Berkshire Council have since played down.

However following the meeting leader of the opposition at West Berkshire Council Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) was puzzled by the council’s dismissal of resident’s concerns.

“That’s difficult to understand,” he said.

“People have got rubbish to dispose of if they are faced with a 30 mile round-trip not everybody is going to do it – it’s an obvious temptation.”

For more on this story pick up a copy of next week’s Newbury Weekly News.