Issue - meetings

Report of Cabinet Member for Environment Infrastructure and Climate Change

The Committee considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Environment Infrastructure and Climate Change regarding the outcome of public consultation on Staffordshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) together with proposed policy changes for implementation in 2023/24 (schedule 1 to the signed minutes).

The County Council had a network of 14 HWRCs across Staffordshire together a further jointly funded site at Lower House Farm, Warwickshire, whose primary function was to receive household waste. There was no statutory duty to accept commercial or trade waste at any of these sites.

Since April 2022 the operation of HWRCs had been brought in-house and better access to data had revealed a significant increase in the deposit of bulky and trade waste (especially at the Cannock site). This situation had significantly increased disposal costs and pressure on existing budgets. In addition, there had been minimal capital investment across the network during the time the service had been outsourced. Therefore, various changes to existing policies were being considered with the aim of ensuring residents were not having to subsidise the disposal of bulky/trade waste and to finance improvements.

Consultation with the public (including traders and businesses) on the proposed changes had been undertaken between 5 December 2022 to 22 January 2023 to seek their views so that, where possible, any concerns or queries could be mitigated. During this period, a total of 1,002 responses were received and following an analysis, key messages had been identified including:-

Policy 4 (Van and Trailer Use)

Proposal - Introduce a van permitting or vehicle recognition-based system for vans and cars with trailers used by Staffordshire residents disposing of household waste generated from domestic properties.

Key Messages

·       Half of respondents stated 12 visits per year should be allowed with a van permit.

·       Van users had a higher preference for 12 permits per year - 73% compared to 38% of car users. However, this remained a top option across all vehicle types.

·       Respondents cited the impact of a van and trailer permit scheme would be to:- (i) Reduce congestion and queues (14%); (ii) Penalise residents with privately owned vans (16%) and; (iii) Increase fly tipping (11%).

Mitigations

·       Ensure clear definition of vehicles and trailers requiring a van permit. Full details to be included in an online application and effectively communicated.

·       Site staff empowered to be supportive of Staffordshire County Council residents and to make appropriate decisions when faced with exceptional circumstances.

·       Lessons learnt from other Local Authorities with van permits to be used to shape the solution for Staffordshire.

Policy 15 (Commercial (Trade) Waste)

Proposal - Option (a) - Staffordshire only business and commercial waste accepted at all sites and increase trade prices per load for larger vans and pro rata increase when traders use cars, small vans and or trailers;

Option (b) - Staffordshire and non-Staffordshire business and commercial waste accepted at larger sites only and increase trade prices per load for larger vans and pro rata increase when traders use cars, small vans and or trailers and;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63