VauxhallandI
Established Member
My council gym is removing the booking system and our tip has been non-booking throughout
Councils have claimed to operate this sort of system long before covid but staff simply didn't bother. My late mother's nearest tip was just over the county boundary in Essex and we were never challenged despite notices displayed at the entrance.My in laws live in Salisbury, so I have a copy of their council tax bill for this purpose. If I go to a Wiltshire tip, I'll be going with their rubbish
All those 30 minute slots do is bundle up the demand so the first 5 minutes at the start of the time slot is busy before quietening down before starting all over again with another bunch of vehicles. In my eyes the only days booking is probably needed is summer weekends where people want to get rid of garden waste, or at least change the system from being 30 minute slots to being an hour or 2 hour slots to spread the demand.
This seems a short sighted approach, as I imagine elsewhere their residents will be using another districts facilities.They claim it is successful because less waste is being deposited, therefore they must have prevented non-residents and businesses from using the tip.
I used to live somewhere that insisted on proof of address for using the tip. I'd have bitten their hands off for a booking system rather than the queuing that I had to endure - for myself, and because of the impact it had on the traffic.My tip is the same. When the bookings were originally introduced, the council said it was to manage demand (because they had been closed during most of Lockdown 1) and to enable social distancing. Now they say they are to stop people from outside the area, and businesses, from using the tips - but in my view they could do that without restricting people to specific times. They claim it is successful because less waste is being deposited, therefore they must have prevented non-residents and businesses from using the tip. But at the same time, our bin collections are regularly running 1 - 2 days behind due to an increase in the amount of waste, and fly tipping has increased.
I have a lot of big cardboard boxes in my garage from a furniture delivery. In the olden days, I would have chucked them in the car next time I was going near the tip. In these days of booking it's too complicated, so I've cut them all up into small pieces so that they'll fit in a recycling bag and the bin men will have more waste to take away from my house next week (our recycling goes in plastic bags and, unlike some areas, there is no limit on the volume we can put out for collection).
I used to live somewhere that insisted on proof of address for using the tip. I'd have bitten their hands off for a booking system rather than the queuing that I had to endure - for myself, and because of the impact it had on the traffic.
I live near a county border, about equidistant from two recycling centres, but in different counties.Our tip in normal times required ID with an address on which shows you live in the authority- you must show it at the gate or are refused entry. Same in the adjacent LA. All in place long before COVID.
With COVID it's easier as you must put in your full address when you book and state the car number-plate. The chap on the gate has a list of numberplates/times for the day and lets you in if it matches (you also must take proof of the booking- presumably in case of a problem with the daily print-out.
never understood the residence rule, as I would expect them to be incentivised by volume of recycling rather than where it came from.
Totally agree. Most people will drive to the nearest tip. If that happens to be in a different local authority, who cares? What difference does it make? Better than people dumping their rubbish out in the countryside.I never understood the residence rule,
Totally agree. Most people will drive to the nearest tip. If that happens to be in a different local authority, who cares? What difference does it make? Better than people dumping their rubbish out in the countryside.
Of course, the problem is that it only takes one council to start checking residence to upset this whole balance, because as soon as council A introduces residence checks, tip B starts having to deal with more waste (because they're dealing with 100% of area B's waste given it's no longer allowed in area A, plus the same amount of waste brought in from A as before). So they have to introduce residence checks too to mitigate this.Presumably it largely evens out anyway, for every person heading to Tip B from Area A, there'll be a corresponding person heading to Tip A from Area B. I'm not aware of any "honeypot" tips!
Only other thought is that heading to a "foreign" Tip may technically be deemed flytipping.
Councils have to pay landfill tax, so it's not unreasonable for them to seek to limit what they spend their council tax on.Totally agree. Most people will drive to the nearest tip. If that happens to be in a different local authority, who cares? What difference does it make? Better than people dumping their rubbish out in the countryside.
Indeed, keep a count for of what’s happening if necessary, but there does seem to be a tendency to make it more difficult for people to do the right thing, which in counterproductive if you ask me.I've thought for a while that this country's issues with fly tipping are in the main due to the councils seemingly making it unnecessarily tricky to dump waste in official tips. It's something I'd gladly see put under national control.
As per post #75, it will most likely average out. If it doesn't then the tips aren't in the right places. Do we really want people to driver further to dump their rubbish in the "correct" tip? As I mentioned, anything that makes doing the right thing harder will encourage fly tipping. Where I live it went off the scale during the first lockdown. How much does that cost the taxpayer to clear up?Councils have to pay landfill tax, so it's not unreasonable for them to seek to limit what they spend their council tax on.
I do agree. Even before we had this booking nonsense, it wasn't always easy to dispose of waste. I remember when I lived in Hertfordshire, they closed the tips for a few days of each week to reduce costs.I've thought for a while that this country's issues with fly tipping are in the main due to the councils seemingly making it unnecessarily tricky to dump waste in official tips. It's something I'd gladly see put under national control.
I agree with the need to make legal waste disposal straightforward, for the reasons you give. But when council services are under severe funding pressure, I'm not going to criticise councils for trying to ensure the money goes where it's needed. I write as someone living near to a county boundary, where the catchment areas don't reflect county or District Council boundaries.As per post #75, it will most likely average out. If it doesn't then the tips aren't in the right places. Do we really want people to driver further to dump their rubbish in the "correct" tip? As I mentioned, anything that makes doing the right thing harder will encourage fly tipping. Where I live it went off the scale during the first lockdown. How much does that cost the taxpayer to clear up?
I remain to be convinced that this would improve matters. Locally implemented and influenced policies would instead be set in Whitehall, with greater cost pressure. Beware what you ask for.I've thought for a while that this country's issues with fly tipping are in the main due to the councils seemingly making it unnecessarily tricky to dump waste in official tips. It's something I'd gladly see put under national control.
I agree with the need to make legal waste disposal straightforward, for the reasons you give. But when council services are under severe funding pressure, I'm not going to criticise councils for trying to ensure the money goes where it's needed. I write as someone living near to a county boundary, where the catchment areas don't reflect county or District Council boundaries.
Dammit. That puts paid to my plans for a day out and picnic at the tip.you have to agree that your visit is 'essential' when you complete the booking form. What on earth is that all about?