THE future of Petersfield recycling centre is once more in the balance, as a consultation is launched that could see it, and others, closed, or have opening times cut again.
A similar consultation in 2014 led to the 24 Hampshire County Council run Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) closing an hour earlier from last year.
And from this year, there will be a charge to deposit DIY waste at them, including at the one in Bedford Road.
Now in effort to make even more savings, the county council is asking residents how they think recycling centre costs can be cut again.
Councillor Seán Woodward, Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment said: “The cuts to the councils government grant are now so severe that we simply cannot carry on as before, we lost £48 million more this year than had been anticipated.
“We need to establish how we can run the recycling centre service with a much smaller budget in a way that is financially sustainable for taxpayers.”
The council operates 24 sites open seven days a week, except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Cllr Woodward said: “We have a large number of recycling centres compared with other areas. We are asking people what they think of changes in opening hours – an hour less each day, weekend only opening , winter closures - and what they think of closing some sites altogether. We will be looking at how many people use each of the sites, how much waste is collected, and the distances between sites.
“I would urge Hampshire residents to take part in this consultation and help us define an affordable service which works for them. No decisions will be made until we have looked at all the evidence and taken people’s views into consideration.”
For more information and to respond to the consultation, go to: www.hants.gov.uk/hwrc2016
Paper copies can be obtained by contacting 0300 555 1389 or emailing [email protected].
The deadline for responses is midday on May 25.
A decision on the future of the recycling centres will be announced in the summer.