Charging at Local Waste & Recycling Centres

Is it only me, or do other residents think that our esteemed county authority inhabits some strange parallel universe where those that do the right thing are continually found new obstructions and obstacles to continue whilst being held to ransom to pay for the misdeeds of others?

On this occasion, I’m thinking about the disposal and recycling of waste, which, try as we might to minimise, we all generate.

We all see, on a daily basis, roadside areas across the county being used as waste dumps. They’re easily marked out, they’re the ones with Area Under Surveillance signs ! (which appear to provide no discouragement at all)
I used to think these ‘facilities’ were only used by the lazy who, frankly, couldn’t be bothered to travel the little extra to the local civic amenity. Now I think they’re more likely to be those who are fed-up with the increasing number of barriers the authority puts in place to discourage residents from ‘doing the right thing’.

I highlight my own experience over the bank holiday weekend.

Like many folk I undertook some domestic hedge cutting, try as I might, I can’t find a way of stopping it growing. I dutifully cleared the cuttings into my trailer (of regulation size !) to dispose of at my local HWARC (Household Waste & Recycling Centre).

Long gone are the days when one could simply hitch-up & go, first priority is to go online, bare your soul and acquire a PERMIT. i.e. you need permission to use a facility that you already pay for.

All-important document in hand I arrived to be greeted by an employee who requested sight of said permit, who then advised that my trailer was loaded TOO HIGH, apparently 60cm is the maximum height of a loaded trailer nowadays. He graciously allowed me to tip whilst suggesting that I ‘don’t do it again’. Closely followed by his supervisor who, iPad in hand, scanned my permit and took me through the same chastisement.

I did try and explain that I thought this latest in a long line of ‘hurdles’ would only result in more fly-tipping and additional cost of clearing same. His look told me he agreed wholeheartedly but his words were more worrying: ‘make the most of it before the charging scheme starts’ – Is BCC REALLY even contemplating charging residents to dispose of their waste in the correct manner?

And we’re paying our Council Tax for what exactly? To stand back and watch the hedgerows & lay-bys fill?

By the way – The current workaround, apparently, for those of us determined to thwart our local council and ‘do the right thing’ = multiple trips, more fuel burnt & more pollution – but at least a clear conscience.