Many Swanage and Wareham residents are calling for Dorset Council to scrap its controversial decision to make them book a 30 minute slot online before visiting their local household recycling centre or tip.
Plenty are angry at not being consulted and aren’t convinced there’s any evidence of a problem that needed to be solved at the local Purbeck tips.
The Swanage tip is modern and well run
Petitions now have thousands of signatures
However the opposition to the scheme isn’t just from residents in Purbeck but many people in towns including Weymouth, Portland and Bridport are also upset by the surprise proposal.
Petitions against the online booking system, which Dorset Council says it will introduce in autumn 2025, have been started in Swanage and in Bridport with thousands objecting.
Initially, Dorset Council said the scheme was required to reduce queuing at the household recycling centres (HRCs) and to reduce the unlawful use of the tip by businesses.
However, there has been a public outcry because there’s never a queue at many of the tips including Swanage and no evidence provided to show the unlawful dumping of trade waste.
Since January 2024, only small quantities of rubble or plasterboard are allowed to be deposited at household recycling centres and they already have to be booked in.
The Liberal Democrat controlled Cabinet has already made the decision without consultation
Dorset Council won’t change its decision
But Dorset Council is now refusing to back down and has released further information claiming the main reason is to save money.
In an astonishing disclosure, Dorset Council has revealed that it has been paying £435,000 to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, so Dorset Council area residents can use their recycling centres. This is presumably an annual charge.
However, BCP residents have been using Dorset Council’s sites for free. Under the new system, non-Dorset residents will still be able to book visits, but they’ll now have to pay a fee.
People may be likely to shove more rubbish in their wheelie bins if they have to book trips to the tip
“Deliver significant annual savings”
Dorset Council is also claiming:
“The new booking system will deliver significant annual savings, including £100,000 at Shaftesbury and Sherborne alone – sites that see high use from residents outside Dorset. Other HRCs at Wimborne, Wareham, and Bridport will also contribute to further savings.
“There are potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds to be saved with future efficiencies, with other councils reporting annual savings of up to £650,000 a year.”
There is no detail on how these savings will be made and no mention of any cost savings to be achieved at the Swanage tip, which is relatively new and well designed.
The Swanage tip is well designed with Purbeck stone gabions and no steps
“Maintain the same valued level of service”
Councillor Jon Andrews, cabinet member for place services, explained:
“We know some residents are concerned about this change, but we’ve looked at lots of alternative options to identify savings.
“We know that closing sites, cutting opening hours, or limiting access could save money, but would have a huge negative impact on our residents. A booking system allows us to maintain the same valued level of service with lower running costs.”
So far there has been no actual evidence from Dorset Council to substantiate the claims that hundreds of thousands of pounds will be saved. It seems to be mainly relying on information from larger more urban councils like Essex.
If it’s harder to take rubbish to the tip, will is just get fly-tipped?
Fly-tipping concerns
In 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and the eventual reopening of tips, many councils introduced an online booking system to spread out the times of visits and to manage social distancing. Some have since dropped the booking system, while others like Hampshire have kept it.
In 2022, a report into the use of online booking systems at HRCs was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to primarily examine whether there was any link between the introduction of booking systems and an increase in fly-tipping in England.
Dorset Council has been using this report to say the evidence doesn’t support a link between booking systems and increased illegal dumping.
The report which is mainly based on self reported information from local authorities says there is no definite evidence of an increase in fly tipping due to the new systems but equally it doesn’t prove that there isn’t any increase. The report says:
“…Some of the fly-tipping statistics from 2020 and 2021 might give a misleading impression around the impact of booking systems and any comparative before and after data should probably be assessed with caution.”
While the report proves inconclusive, partly because the data was collected during an unusual period of time when many were in lockdown, it proves an interesting read.
In the report it indicated the cost of the online booking software, with one local authority reporting that the cost of its booking system was around £108,000 a year, while Hampshire paid £40,000 a year and Kent £21,000 a year. The cost of Dorset Council’s booking system has not yet been disclosed.
The report shows that the introduction of online booking systems have been most popular in areas where there were previously long queues to use the tip, but this isn’t the case in Swanage or, it seems, most Dorset towns to the south and west of the county.
The Dorchester tip is old fashioned and the design can cause queues
“Please stand back and apply some common sense”
Swanage’s elected councillor on Dorset Council, Gary Suttle said:
“A lesson learnt many years ago, certainly by me, is that you listen to residents. This decision has had no consultation and is missing key evidence.
“How many people are being excluded who have no access to computers and the internet? When was the Swanage HRC so swamped that traffic impacted on our road system? Where is the evidence of trade waste abuse? What is the ultimate aim? Will it be charging in the future?
“Whilst I accept that some centres are antiquated and over subscribed and may need a system, Swanage is the complete opposite.
“This is a decision based on a one size fits all solution. Dorset Council needs to recognise the unique position Swanage is in – no one is coming from Somerset to dump their garden waste in Swanage. Please stand back and apply some common sense.
“Perhaps in future, speaking to local members and the town council, might tell them more than the opinions of people based in Dorchester.”
At the end of Purbeck’s longest cul-de-sac, the tip in Swanage is only rarely used by anyone other than locals
No consultation legally required
The decision was approved by elected councillors on Dorset Council’s Cabinet.
It is understood that legally Dorset Council does not have to consult with the public or councillors about the introduction of the new booking system, as the change does not technically reduce access to services.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t wiser or more politically astute to do so.
Dorset Council was asked by Swanage.News to justify the introduction of a booking system in Swanage but it has not yet replied.
Further information
- More about the Dorset Council booking system
- Swanage petition and Bridport petition
- DEFRA’s report on HRC’s booking systems and fly-tipping
