October start date for cuts at West Sussex rubbish tips

Cuts to West Sussex rubbish tips are set to be brought in at the start of October.
West Sussex County Council SUS-160531-124255001West Sussex County Council SUS-160531-124255001
West Sussex County Council SUS-160531-124255001

Household Waste and Recycling Sites (HWRSs) in Horsham, Billingshurst, Worthing, Shoreham, Littlehampton, Midhurst, and East Grinstead are due to be closed for two days a week, while Westhampnett, Crawley, and Burgess Hill will remain open all week

West Sussex County Council is also due to reduce all the sites’ opening hours, and axe mobile HWRSs across the Chichester district apart from those at The Witterings and Selsey.

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A motion put forward by Michael Jones (Lab, Southgate and Crawley Central), which called on the county council to abandon proposals, was rejected by a nearly 2:1 majority at a meeting on Friday July 22.

Mr Jones said: “These cuts will severely inconvenience the people of West Sussex.”

He added: “I think the cabinet member is behaving rather like a bull in a china shop on this issue.”

But David Barling (Con, Bramber Castle), cabinet member for residents’ services, replied: “What a luxury opposition is. You can put forward a position or criticise without any constructive way forward whatsoever.”

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He said the motion ‘flies in the face of financial reality’ and explained that he needed to make £2m of savings.

He added: “I can’t operate in a vacuum.”

Mr Barling said they were bringing in two officers to mitigate any possible increase in fly tipping.

Worthing currently has the fewest incidents in West Sussex, while Crawley was the ‘worst by miles’, with around 1,500 incidents of fly tipping last year.

But Francis Oppler (LDem, Bognor Regis East) said: “There is palpable anger about what is being proposed to something so well used and valued by residents.”

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He added: “By taking this decision you [Mr Barling] have let down the residents of West Sussex.”

Robin Rogers (LDem, Northbrook) ‘resented the tone’ of the cabinet members’ speech and said they were ‘here to work with you not to be lectured’, while Bernard Smith (UKIP, Selsey) said that farmers were ‘tremendously worried about fly tipping’.

But Stephen Hillier (Con, Haywards Heath East), cabinet member for children - start of life, explained that in other areas where similar proposals have been implemented had seen ‘little or no evidence of a significant increase in fly tipping’.

However Mike Glennon (UKIP, Lancing) suggested that rather paying £4 to dispose of a bag of non-household waste such as soil, hard core, DIY, or plasterboard, some residents would dump the rubbish and instead spend the money on ‘putting a meal on the table for their kids’.

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• East Grinstead, Littlehampton, and Hop Oast (Horsham) will close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

• Billingshurst, Worthing ,and Bognor Regis will close on Thursdays and Fridays.

• Midhurst and Shoreham will close on Mondays and Tuesdays. Midhurst will open on Sundays subject to planning permission.

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