Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport regarding the consultation on the Recycling and Household Waste Sites.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

Mr. Pain CC said that the proposals were being brought reluctantly to the Committee due to the challenging financial climate and the financial pressures in both Adult and Children and Families Social Care. He encouraged residents to engage in the consultation and recognised that the proposals would present challenges to residents.

Arising from discussions, the following points were noted:

      i.         The Kibworth site had been redesigned to draw traffic away from the main road to reduce congestion.  A traffic assessment would be carried out to assess whether the Kibworth site would cope with potential increased usage should the Market Harborough site be closed. This would be made available to Members as part of the consultation. A member expressed concern that the housing growth proposed for Harborough would increase visitor numbers to the RHWS, and would therefore, increase use of the Kibworth site and place increased pressure on local roads. They were advised that future housing growth was one of the criteria in determining the proposals and that there was not a direct correlation between increased housing and a growth in waste as there had been a change in recycling behaviour post Covid 19.  Mr. Boulter CC asked that his reservations to the proposals related to traffic assessment and management around the RHWS site in Kibworth be noted in the minutes.

     ii.         A report would be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in March 2024, setting out the outcome of the consultation and presenting revised proposals should they be changed following the consultation, prior to submission of a report to the Cabinet for a decision on the future of RHWS.

    iii.         There were significant funding gaps across the Council and all departments were being asked to make significant savings to enable other services, for example Adult Social Care, to be supported.  The Scrutiny Review Panel had explored various factors to determine which sites would reduce opening hours, or would be proposed for closure, which included usage numbers and cost of operating, for example. The Director recommended that Members looked at the Scrutiny Review Panel report which was now available on the Council’s website.

   iv.         The Council did not currently have a policy on usage of RHWS by people living outside of the Leicestershire border, although this had been considered by the Scrutiny Review Panel.  Data showed that usage of RHWS was reciprocated across boundaries and was usually determined by people’s commute to work. Members recognised that policing cross boundary usage would be a challenge. The consultation questionnaire allowed for people to identify their location, so cross boundary usage would be evident.

     v.         For sites proposed for closure, the land occupied would be ‘mothballed’. Members were assured decisions about what would happen to vacated sites would be made in the future once final decisions had been made about the RHWS.

   vi.         Leicestershire had 14 RHWS, which was more than in other neighbouring counties. The statutory duty placed on councils was to provide the ability for householders to dispose of their rubbish and the offer had to include the weekend period. The location and number of sites was discretionary and based on need and locality.

  vii.         The level of fly tipping in an area was linked to the level of enforcement carried out by district councils, and not linked to the availability of RHWS in the locality. Levels of deprivation in the area was also a contributing factor to the levels of fly tipping.

 viii.         The Scrutiny Review Panel was keen for the consultation questions to be succinct and direct rather than include wider information for residents to consider. Members said that it would be useful to include information in the consultation on the Council’s statutory obligations to enable people to be fully informed when responding to the consultation.

Members acknowledged the work of the Scrutiny Review Panel and recognised the challenge presented in forming proposals for the consultation. 

The Lead Member for the Environment and the Green Agenda highlighted that it was a legal requirement for the Council to present a balanced budget and that all departments had a responsibility to contribute to the financial challenge faced by the County Council.  He assured the Committee that all responses from the questionnaire would be considered in formulating the final proposals for consideration by the Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

That the following proposals for the consultation on Recycling and Household Waste Sites be noted:

a)      Closure of three of the Council’s Recycling and Household Waste Sites (RHWS): Market Harborough, Shepshed, and Somerby;

b)      Change to part time opening at the Bottesford RHWS;

c)      Reduction in summer opening hours at all RHWS; and

d)      Introduction of Christmas Eve closure at all RHWS.