Agenda item - BAGSHOT COMMUNITY RECYCLING CENTRE

The Report is to recommend the permanent closure of the Community Recycling Centre at Swift Lane, Bagshot GU19 5NJ and that opening hours of the Community Recycling Centre at Wilton Road Camberley be extended by an extra day a week (Tuesday) to compensate.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee)

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet agree to the closure of the Community Recycling Centre (CRC) at Swift Lane, Bagshot and as a consequence agree to the opening of the CRC at Wilton Road, Camberley for an extra day a week (Tuesday).

2. That Cabinet allow those residents of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead who currently use the Bagshot CRC to use Lyne CRC, Chertsey as an alternative.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Bagshot CRC site is small, unmodernised and not fit for purpose. It is not an ‘unsafe’ site (SUEZ have obligations to keep the site safe and lawful) but there are hazards – for example, users of the site park their cars in the centre of the plot, and then walk across the path of moving vehicles to access the various waste containers.

The site has to close for container exchange, leading to inconvenience & a build-up of queues. There is no means of compacting waste in the containers which means that they will be taken off the site with spare capacity – creating more of a carbon impact per tonne in terms of haulage and increased vehicle movements. These issues do not occur at modernised sites.

There is an ongoing pattern of vandalism, fly tipping and unlawful entry at the Bagshot CRC site which happens out of hours (i.e. when the CRC is closed and overnight). Staff have been threatened by (some) users of the site who are attempting to bring non-acceptable (potentially unlawful) material onto the site. Rather than confront the user, for their own safety, the staff have had to accept the waste as presented.

Fly tipping has occurred both within the site and outside of the entrance. The existing perimeter fencing does not present a sufficient barrier to these episodes, which often involve the use of mechanical equipment. Material fly tipped has in the past included hazardous materials such as asbestos. Prevention measures would be difficult and costly to implement and could include reinforced walls with climb prevention, enhanced 24 hr security guard presence and additional lighting.

SUEZ have recorded 801 instances of fly tipping across all Surrey CRC sites between January 2019 and August 2024.Of these, 531 (66%) were at Bagshot CRC. Of the other 14 sites, Lyne Lane CRC, near Chertsey, experienced 89 fly tipping incidents (11%) in the period. Fly tipping incidents at all of the other 13 sites combined make up the remaining 23%.

SCC’s waste contractor, SUEZ, retain incident logs which have recorded 48 nuisance incidents (fly-tipping, break ins, vandalism, anti-social behaviour) at Bagshot CRC between 2nd January and 25th August 2024. No other SCC CRC suffers such high levels of nuisance-based disruption. This disruption impacts on site staff and users negatively, the site often having to close to allow remedial action. A summary of the SUEZ incident logs is included at Annex C.

Despite the high levels of disruption, a review of complaints received from users of the site by SUEZ since January 2023 shows that 23 complaints have been recorded across the CRC estate, none of which relate to Bagshot CRC. SUEZ believe that this reflects the empathy felt by users for the on-site staff, recognising the difficulties the site presents.

The access road is narrow and itself suffers from fly tipping.

Swift lane is not accessible on foot, so closure won't impact pedestrian visitors.

The nearest alternative site is Camberley CRC which is approximately 6 miles away from the Bagshot CRC and has a travel time between the two sites (by car) of approximately 15 minutes. Alternative CRC sites are located within 10 miles

Analysis undertaken by SCC’s Transport Modelling specialists shows that the Swift Lane CRC in Bagshot is the closest CRC to 12,428 households. If the Bagshot CRC was to close:

· 7,894 (63.5%) would see no increase in drive time when accessing the nearest alternative CRC (Lyne, Woking or Camberley) if the Bagshot site was to close; and

· 4,544 (36.5%) would have a maximum drive time of 20 minutes (covering 7.8 miles) to their nearest alternative CRC site.

A map marked up with postcode ‘clusters’ in the Bagshot CRC catchment area showing the closest alternative sites is included at Annex D

The site is owned by Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) who lease it to SCC. The site will be returned to SHBC if it closed.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee)

The Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure introduced the report which recommend the permanent closure of the Community Recycling Centre (CRC) at Swift Lane, Bagshot. The Bagshot CRC site was small, unmodernised and not fit for purpose. The site had a number of issues including not being split level meaning that members of the public had to climb steps in order to place items in the collecting containers. The site suffered vandalism and the perimeter fence to the site had been driven into a number of times. Fly tipping had occurred both within the site and outside of the entrance. Staff at the site receive daily threats and although measures were being taken to protect staff, the site was not safe. The Camberley CRC would be opened an additional day a week if the closure of Bagshot was agreed. Closing the site would result in a small saving of £105,000. The Cabinet Member reiterated that the recommendation to close Bagshot CRC was not to achieve financial savings but because the site was not safe and fit for purpose.

The Local Member Cllr Richard Tear spoke on the item and thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for speaking and consulting with him before the item came to Cabinet. Cllr Tear raised three issues. The first issue was around communications. Whilst a survey was carried out in Bagshot, the villages surrounding the area which use the CRC had been ignored including West End, Chobham and Lightwater. With regards to mitigation, the issues with the site had been built up over a number of years and it was disappointing that these issues were not dealt with at the time. Lastly, for any residents that use Camberley CRC this would require a long wait in traffic especially at the roundabout by Frimley Park hospital. This would cause a great deal of aggravation for residents. The Cllr had been contacted by a number of residents who did not want the site to close but recognised that if the problems with the site could not be mitigated then there would be no other choice but closure.

The Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure explained that Suez staff along with officers could look at ways of accelerating throughput at Camberley CRC. There was a recognition that the travel time for residents was not convenient but attending a fit for purpose and safe CRC would make a difference for residents. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities thanked the Local Member for attending the meeting and representing his residents views. The Deputy Leader stated that she did not think it was appropriate for the council to be operating a site where there were significant concerns over not just the safety of the operatives and the staff but of the wider public.

The Leader recognised the sensitivities around closing the CRC which was a well-liked facility. The closure had nothing to do with savings but health and safety issues on the site which the council was ultimately responsible for. The Leader hoped the Local Member would work with the local council to report back on any issues created from the closure.