New recycling centre booking system divides Wiltshire
BBCThere has been a mixed response to a trial booking system being introduced at six household recycling centres (HRCs) across Wiltshire.
From 14 September, people will need to book an appointment at six of the ten HRCs in the county. Council leaders hope the move will cut queuing times and encourage more people to use the sites.
But some residents say the scheme is "utter madness" and they have never had any issues with long queues.
Below is everything you need to know about the new trial.
What has the council said?
Council chiefs say the pilot will look at whether bookings can help reduce queuing, improve the experience, and minimise disruption for nearby communities and businesses.
Council leader Ian Thorn said the authority had heard concerns among older people not "keen on queuing".
"A booking system may well provide more time for elderly people to be helped in terms of dropping items into containers," he said.
"And often the first come, first serve system can be quite aggressive, can be quite unpleasant, which rather puts some people off," he added.
He said they will be using feedback from the trial to help with future decisions.
"We're looking at the feedback from residents, that's really critical in terms of what is working, what hasn't worked.
"We'll be looking at whether there are new people coming to the HRCs that wouldn't normally have come or perhaps are coming more frequently.
"We'll be talking to the staff at each of the HRCs in terms of how they have found the process."
What is the response?
Many have been voicing their concerns. Brian Mathew, the MP for Devizes, has had enough constituents get in touch to write a formal letter to the council, saying he believes the trial will "create more problems than it solves".
He explains that many have told him there are no issues with the Devizes site, and he is worried about discouraging people from recycling and instead encouraging fly-tipping.
Thorn said there is "very little evidence" that there is correlation between those who fly-tip and those who would go to an HRC, so "experience elsewhere suggests that won't happen". They are "very different sorts of people".
Dean Bennett lives in Melksham and said the plan is "utter madness". He has not had much trouble getting in and out of the tip in his town when using it this year, saying it "didn't seem like it warranted appointments".
Meanwhile, Devizes resident Jake Davies said he remembered booking over the pandemic and has "no issues with it" and that it saved some of the queuing. On a bad day, he said he has been waiting 45 minutes.
Where the trial is taking place?
The trial is happening at Devizes, Lower Compton, Melksham, Purton, Salisbury and Stanton St Quintin.
While people will need a slot to visit these centres from 14 September, the online booking system on the council website will open from 8 September.
Those who cannot use the online service can call the council's rubbish and recycling line.
Slots of 30 minutes up to one week in advance will be bookable and there will be some same-day spaces. The council said it plans to review the slot lengths as part of the trial.
Opening hours, permits and types of waste people can bring will not be affected.
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