PEOPLE?in the county can have their say on changes to Hampshire’s household waste recycling centres.

Hampshire County Council will be consulting on how savings can best be made in the running of the recycling centres as it deals with the impact of the Government’s announcement on reductions in funding for local councils.

Sean Woodward, the county council’s executive member for economy, transport and environment, said: “Ongoing reductions in Government funding mean we must continually look very carefully at where we focus our resources to make sure we are using the funding we have wisely.

“However, the scale of funding reductions for councils, particularly in the South of England, announced by the Government in December was much more severe than we had expected, and we are now reviewing our savings plans.

“We have a large number of household waste recycling centres in Hampshire compared with other areas. They are open seven days per week, only closing on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and it is clear we are no longer in a financial position to be able to provide this level of service.

“We have been working on a number of scenarios on which to base a public consultation, asking residents how they think savings could best be made. We will need to keep all our options open, including the possibility of charging for non-domestic waste, reducing opening hours and the pattern of sites across the county.”

And he added: “We want to hear what the priorities are for Hampshire’s residents before any decisions are made, and we will be analysing details of how, when and which sites are used. In our consultation in the summer, residents were clear how much they value this service but also agreed on the importance of producing less waste in the first place.

“With the county and district councils in Hampshire spending more than £100m dealing with waste each year in Hampshire, reducing overall waste volumes is very important.

“Once we have looked at all the evidence and taken people’s views into consideration, we will finalise proposals on how the savings can be made. It’s important that we listen to what Hampshire’s residents are telling us, consider the facts, and are not misled by any scaremongering about fly-tipping or extensive site closures.

“I believe that most people are proud of where they live and are as keen as I am to maintain Hampshire’s environment and quality of life.”

Mr Woodward concluded: “This whole process will take some months as we want to give people time to let us know what they think, and we then need to analyse all the information very carefully. We must live within our means, and at this point nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.”

Dates for the consultation on potential changes to the household waste recycling centre service will be confirmed after the responses are analysed and presented to Mr Woodward for a decision on any changes later in the year.