Photo: Alan Mak MP and Allison Wiltshire have led the campaign to keep Hayling Tip open
Local MP Alan Mak has welcomed news Hayling Island's household waste recycling centre will not be closed. Mak led the political campaign to keep it open, alongside Hayling Island resident Allison Wiltshire who organised the community campaign on the ground.
Hampshire County Council which operates the site off Fishery Lane announced on Friday 22 July that the waste recycling centre would not close, but savings would instead be made by reducing operating hours and levying a charge on users from outside Hampshire.
Separately, charges will also be levied for non-domestic waste deposited at the Hayling site by local residents, such as rubble, plasterboard and construction waste, from January 2017.
Alan Mak MP who has led the political campaign against closure welcomed the news, saying that the tip is a much-needed community asset. Allison Wiltshire, who has led the community campaign to keep the facility open attended the meeting in Winchester where the news was announced, and described the outcome as a victory for local campaigners.
Councillor Rob Humby, Hampshire Council Cabinet member for the Environment, also said he would seek to change the law to allow councils to charge local users £1 per visit to put the tip on a firmer financial footing in the long-term. Local MP Alan Mak said he would back a change in the law at Westminster, and lobby other Hampshire MPs to support the change too.
The future of waste recycling centres across Hampshire has been subject to a county-wide consultation since February.
Local MP Alan Mak has led the political campaign to keep the tip open, convening a meeting in May 2016 with Humby on Hayling Island where Allison Wiltshire and local councillors lobbied Humby to keep the tip open. They cited the Island’s unique characteristics, including a high number elderly residents without cars, high volumes of household waste, and the difficulties associated with travelling to the nearest centre in Havant via a congested single road.
Allison Wiltshire later presented Humby with a residents’ petition containing over 6800 signatures from local residents, which Mak supported.
Alan Mak MP said, “Hayling tip is staying open which was our campaign’s aim. The political campaign which I’ve led has benefitted hugely from the outstanding community campaign organised by Islander Allison Wiltshire. From the 6800-strong residents petition presented to the direct lobbying we did at the meeting I organised with Rob Humby, this campaign has shown Hayling’s community spirit at its best”
Mak added: “Now the tip has been saved, I hope we will see even greater usage, more recycling, and a crackdown on flytipping. Hayling residents are rightly proud of the Island, and I encourage everyone to use the tip and be vigilant for flytipping which should be reported to the council.”
Allison Wiltshire said, “Hayling tip staying open is great news for the Island. We’ve worked hard alongside local MP Alan Mak over the last 6 months to keep it open, and I’m grateful to the thousands of residents who supported us. Hampshire Council have responded to our concerns, and this is a real victory for people power.”
Wiltshire added “We need to keep sending the message to Hampshire Council that the tip is vital to Island life, so we need as many residents as possible to use it. The more we use it, and promote it across the local area, the stronger its foundations become”
The retention of the recycling centre will be accompanied by a crackdown on fly-tipping from Hampshire County Council.