Hayling Island and Bishop's Waltham tips threatened with closure as others in Hampshire become recycling only

Hampshire County Council’s plan to close as many as 12 tips will also see the opening hours and days at other the household waste recycling centres (HWRC) changed, as well as the types of waste accepted altered. The council has presented its proposal as part of the saving plan to meet the forecasted £132 million budget shortfall by April 2025, with all departments asked to reduce costs and provide the legal minimum of services required by law.

As part of the proposals, the county council has targeted Alresford, Bishops Waltham, Fair Oak, Hartley Wintney, and Hayling Island as the smallest sites with the poorest performing and most expensive to run. The closure of these five would save around £500,000 per year. Furthermore, due to operational challenges and investment requirements, closures could happen in the Aldershot, Bordon, Casbrook, Hedge End, Marchwood, Petersfield, and Somerley sites.

The council said that with the closure of the 12 sites, “a larger proportion of Hampshire households would be affected”, but it would save up to £1.6 million. It said that closing certain sites may impact the employees working at those sites, which Veolia manages on behalf of the council. In such cases, the staff who work at those sites and are employed by Veolia may be affected and face job losses.

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Another way to save money on waste management would be by reducing the opening hours of tips, which the council estimates could save £1.2 million, but this will require a reduction in opening times of around 57 per cent, which is equivalent to around three days per week across the network. Furthermore, limiting the disposal of expensive waste types, such as soil and rubble, to a few designated sites and waste containers for rarely deposited waste types will be removed to free up space.

Additionally, some waste management sites can become “recycling only” by restricting the deposit of non-recyclable materials such as household waste. The county council is also “exploring” new ways for charging new fees, such as the “premium booking slot”, which would provide access outside of the standard operating hours or the sale of “chargeable items” like gloves or sacks on site. Operational proposals may be implemented earlier, while any proposals will be carried out from summer 2025, potentially in stages.

Hampshire network of tips is the largest in England, with 24 sites of different sizes, accessibility and levels of efficiency, costing more than £10 million a year to operate. In 2022/23, Hampshire residents made 2.1 million bookings to deposit almost 120,000 tonnes of household waste across the network. Public consultation on the plans is open for residents until March 31.

You can give your feedback using the online consultation response form. Or, if you prefer to complete the response form offline, you can download a printable version. You can also email a written response directly to Hampshire County Council using [email protected] or write to Freepost HAMPSHIRE (Please also write PandO, IEU, FM09 on the back of the envelope). Here, you can find more information on the full public consultation process.