Shropshire Council U-turn over controversial recycling centre booking system

The decision was announced by the authority's Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, Councillor Ian Nellins, at this morning's Shropshire Council cabinet meeting.

It means people using cars to visit one of the council's five centres - at Shrewsbury Craven Arms, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, and Whitchurch, will no longer need to book.

But, vans and trailers will still be required to book, and all visitors to the centres will be asked to provide proof of residency in Shropshire.

It comes after the council introduced the booking system last November. 

The move was met with considerable criticism.

'There has been a lot of positives'

Addressing this morning's cabinet meeting Councillor Nellins said the authority has now reviewed the data over use of the centres, and was listening to its residents.

He said: "This booking system has been in place since November. Prior to the booking system being in place there was no data held to indicate who was using the sites and when they were using the sites. The booking system has provided us with that data.

"There has been a lot of positives and I would like to thank our residents for their patience and co-operation during this trial period.

"We said we would run a three month trial. During last month's scrutiny meeting I said we were checking the data but at that time informal cabinet had already made the decision some changes were needed.

"We know we have deterred a lot of illegal trade waste, we know we have turned away many non-Shropshire residents, we also know that many Shropshire residents embraced the change and commented on how easy the process was.

"We also had complaints from residents, many of whom admitted they had not even tried to make a booking but felt the system did not work.

"We also appreciate that phone booking was not good.

"We have listened to the residents, looked at the data and made the following decisions. 

"Vans and trailers must book as normal. 

"Cars no longer need to book. visitors to the HRC must be prepared to show proof of residence in Shropshire."

Councillor Nellins added that Veolia, which operates the centres, has been informed of the changes, and it is hoped they will come into force by Monday, February 17.