Agenda item

Consider report by Director of Infrastructure & Environment. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director of Infrastructure and Environment which proposed that the Council retained the current Community Recycling Centre booking system, which covered trailers and large vehicles, and expanded it to include small vans.  The report explained that the Council introduced a booking system for trailers and large vans in response to the Covid pandemic.  The majority of Covid restrictions had subsequently been lifted, and a decision on the long term need for a booking system was required.  There were a number of key benefits of the booking system.  Customer waiting times had been reduced as larger vehicles were spread throughout the day.  Health and Safety risks had been reduced.  The impact on local businesses associated with queuing traffic outside sites had been mitigated.  The Council could monitor illegal use of the sites by traders who had not purchased a Trade Waste Permit.  Four options had been considered, ranging from complete withdrawal of the booking system to the requirement that all vehicles pre-book.  The Waste and Passenger Transport Manager, Mr Ross Sharp-Dent presented the report and highlighted that approximately three quarters of all Local Authorities in Scotland had introduced a similar booking system.  Five official complaints had been received since the introduction of the booking system over 2 previous years.  A public survey had been undertaken in June 2022, which had found that the majority of respondents, 44 out of 59, were happy with the system.  In response to a question regarding the monitoring of fly tipping as a consequence of the system, Mr Sharp-Dent confirmed that fly tipping was monitored on a constant basis. Whilst no specific analysis of fly tipping relating to the booking system had been undertaken, there had not been a significant change detected in the data.  It was confirmed that whilst larger vehicles such as people carrier cars, could be required to book a slot, that was generally limited to instances where the whole of a vehicle had been used to carry waste.  Operatives were asked to use common sense to ensure that members of the public understood to use the booking system if they were dropping of a large volume of waste.  Members commended report and were encouraged by the plans to introduce smart phones to front-line staff to allow them to monitor bookings in real time. 

            DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)        retain the current Community Recycling Centre Booking System, which covers trailers and large vehicles, and to expand it to include small vans;

(b)       deliver the proposed improvements to the booking system as outlined in the report;

(c)        note that the majority of visits to Community Recycling Centres were made by car and were therefore unaffected by the existing and proposed booking system; and

(d)       note the benefits of the booking system in relation to:

            (i)         reducing waiting times;

  (ii)        reducing queues out with the sites, which create Health and Safety risks and impact local businesses; and

  (iii)       controlling misuse of sites by traders who had not purchased permits.