Agenda item

Consider report by Service Director Neighbourhood Services seeking approval of a Community Recycling Centre Trade Access policy for Scottish Borders Council.  (Copy attached.)

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Edgar declared an interest in the following item of business in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the Chamber during the discussion.

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Neighbourhood Services seeking approval of a Community Recycling Centre Trade Access Policy for Scottish Borders Council.   The report explained that the aim of the Community Recycling Centre (CRCs) Trade Access Policy was to expand on the existing range of trade services by providing small, peripatetic traders with a cost effective and legislatively compliant means to dispose of the bulk of their waste and recycling. The proposal aimed to allow the Council to provide an improved and sustainable service that would contribute towards the current costs of trade waste disposal at CRCs.  CRCs were currently licenced to accept household waste only. However, it was suspected that some traders gained regular, unauthorised access to dispose of their waste. To resolve this, the options available were to either enforce a trade ban at CRCs or introduce the proposed permit system.  Both of these options would incur costs to manage and enforce. The option of introducing a permit system however, would result in an income stream which could cover the management and enforcement costs and might contribute towards some of the trade waste treatment and disposal costs.  A key aim was to ensure that any system was simple and sustainable.  Therefore, after extensive consultation and research, it was proposed that a two permit scheme be introduced to allow traders access to six of the Council’s Community Recycling Centres, the exception being Selkirk.   CRCs had been designed for household waste only and their current design, size, capacity and operational activities were such that the permit system should be introduced with the proposed material, vehicle, access and volume restrictions initially.  A review of the system would be undertaken after three months and, depending on the outcome of the review it may be possible to relax or remove some of the restrictions in place and for further improvements to be made to the new service.  Applications for either of the permits would be via an online form with legal checks and full payment included as part of the application process.  It was proposed to introduce the new service from 1 April 2016 which aligned with the timescales for renewing the existing trade waste service contracts.  The Service Director requested that an additional recommendation be added requiring a review after 3 months of operation.  Members discussed the proposals and concern was expressed regarding lack of trade access at weekends and the limit of 4 bags.  It was proposed that these should be included in the introductory period to ascertain if there were problems which could then be resolved as part of the three month review.  The Service Director undertook to consider these matters further prior to the introduction of the Policy.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     the introduction of a Trade Waste Access Policy for six of the Community Recycling Centres in the Scottish Borders Area;

(b)     the proposed two permit scheme with material, vehicle, access and volume restrictions along with the associated fees;

(c)     the need for a full time permanent enforcement role to manage the system and provide support for operational staff and site users;

(d)     expenditure incurred for implementation and ongoing costs as summarised in Appendix 1a to the report;

(e)     the Service Director consider whether to include some limited weekend access and review the number of bags allowed within the Policy; and

(f)      that a review of the system be undertaken after 3 months of operation.