Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP) has announced it will ‘reluctantly’ close its Hurn bring-bank recycling site after it suffered from persistent fly-tipping.
DWP stated that the mini recycling centre, located on Avon Causeway, would close on 1 August 2013. The decision followed meetings held between DWP, Christchurch Borough Council and Hurn Parish Council.
Items illegally dumped at the site included washing machines, builders’ rubble, tyres and mattresses, despite fly-tipping carrying a penalty of £50,000 or 12 months in jail. There were 552 reported incidents of fly-tipping in the Christchurch area last year, of which 12 per cent originated in the Hurn site.
Despite this, the councils have made attempts to fight the fly-tipping, including screening the site from view behind rows of trees. CCTV cameras were also installed in an attempt to catch law breakers, but this only resulted in the cameras themselves being stolen.
Fly-tipping a ‘source of misery’
Steve Burdis, Director of DWP, said: “Fly-tipping by a thoughtless minority has long been a source of misery for local residents, and I am pleased we have reached a joint decision to tackle the problem.
“Clearing up fly-tipping is expensive. Councils need to focus their resources on increasing people’s ability to recycle while removing opportunities for anti-social dumping.”
Councillor Margaret Phipps, Chair of Hurn Parish Council, echoed Burdis’s comments: “I am pleased the Dorset Waste Partnership has responded to residents’ concerns about the scale of abuse at the site. The problem has become increasingly urgent, with the area attracting more and more waste daily. Repeated efforts to combat fly-tipping have had little effect and removal of the banks is now the only option to stop it for good.”
The Hurn site was intended to be used to recycle household materials such as cardboard, plastic bottles and glass. Residents wishing to recycle these items can now have them collected fortnightly in Christchurch and East Dorset through the ‘recycle for Dorset’ kerbside service. DWP says that this scheme has led to a twofold increase in Christchurch’s recycling rate since October 2012.
Residents wishing to recycle larger objects must now take them to a household recycling centre in Christchurch, whilst clothes and small electrical appliances can be taken to the mini recycling centres in Christchurch and West Parley, or to charity shops.
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