Booking systems, extra days and a county-wide registration scheme are some of the solutions on the table to deal with long queues at Lincolnshire tips.
Lincolnshire County Council says the current system is becoming unworkable due to the amount of traffic and waste, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
A business recently blocked the entrance to Lincoln household waste recycling centre in protest to the disruption, and Lincoln Councillor Natasha Chapman said queuing “can feel like an eternity”.
A booking system is the preferred option, although it met some resistance when they were discussed at the waste partnership meeting on Thursday, July 2.
Lincolnshire County Council’s executive will make the final decision next week.
Booking system
Lincolnshire County Council’s preferred option would be to introduce a booking system, where people are given a slot to turn up with their rubbish.
The council believes it will prevent long queues to get into and through the sites, as well as stopping businesses dumping their own waste there.
However, councillors have warned that the public might not like the concept initially.
Coun Callum Butler told the meeting: “I think you’ve got your work cut out trying to persuade the public.
“I understand there are costs to opening six days a week, but that’s what residents want and need.”
The county had a temporary booking system during the Covid pandemic, although officials say a new system would be much smoother than that.
Extra days or longer hours
Another option is bringing it up to open six days per week, and extend opening times from 8am to 5pm.
However, officials don’t believe this would bring much benefit for the extra £1.5million it would cost, with traffic tending to be highest between Friday and Sunday.
Coun Mark Smith said: “It would be good to see it open later one night a week to give opportunities to individuals who work full-time.”
Chris Yorston, the council’s head of waste, said that the council would gather data on the new system and see if other changes were possible.
Registration scheme
The most radical change would require every vehicle to register on the council website and prove they are a Lincolnshire resident.
Anyone who hasn’t done this would be turned away by an ANPR-equipped barrier at the site entrance.
This would deal with the issue of residents from other counties taking their waste to Lincolnshire, which officials say is a growing problem.
Although it would save some money, there would be an upfront cost of around £1.1million.
Access to vans and large trailers could also be limited to 12 trips per year.
Mr Yorston told the meeting cross-border rubbish was particularly bad in Bourne and Spalding, saying: “It’s amazing how far people want to travel to get rid of waste because it’s very expensive for commercial operators.”
Doing nothing
The council says that keeping the current system isn’t an option, with queuing and congestion continuing to get worse.
Sites could also be forced to temporarily close when they reach capacity in extremely busy periods.
Lincolnshire has seen “an exponential growth in [waste] completely outstripping population growth” in the last five years, Chris Yorston said.
He warned it could become a barrier to housing growth if not addressed.
