Waste permits for residents living on border of county ruled out

Monmouthshire council has said it will not offer permits to people living on the borders of the county to use its recycling centres.

The authority had said it was considering offering permits for a small fee to those living outside of Monmouthshire, but it has now ruled out the move, at least for the time being.

However it will be offering those living on the borders use of the weighbridge at the waste centres in Llanfoist and Five Lanes.

A council official said:  “Unfortunately, the decision has been taken not to offer permits to residents outside Monmouthshire at this time.

“We are, however, offering use of the chargeable weighbridge.”

It means people living on the borders, including those in Newport and Powys, will have to continue travelling further to use waste centres in their own local authority area.

Residents living in Llangattock and Crickhowell, for example, have to use the waste and recycling centre in Brecon which is a round trip of between 30 to 50 miles.

The recycling centre in Llanfoist near Abergavenny is only around six miles away, but can only be used by Monmouthshire residents who are issued with a permit.

Similarly, residents living in the Langstone area of Newport will not be able to use the nearby Five Lanes centre, which for many is closer than the recycling centre in Docks Way, Newport.

Newport councillor Ray Mogford, who campaigned for residents to be allowed to use the Five Lanes centre, said he was “disappointed that common sense has not prevailed.”

“It’s the difference of driving 20 odd miles or driving a couple of miles,” Cllr Mogford said.

“Somebody at the higher level should be able to resolve this.”

Residents living outside of Monmouthshire had been able to use the county’s recycling centres until June 1 this year, when the authority introduced waste permits in a bid to reduce cross border waste.

The council said permits were introduced “to protect services for Monmouthshire residents,” after it found 15 per cent of people using its facilities provided out of county post codes.

A spokeswoman for the council said this equates to 3,000 tonnes of waste and recycling, with treatment of the waste costing on average £60 per tonne.

“Without the introduction of permits this could have led to additional strain on our ever decreasing budgets,” the spokeswoman said.

“We would support centralised provision of household waste recycling centres for all residents if funding and recycling targets could be adapted to make this possible at a local level.

“Similarly to Powys council we operate well above the statutory legislative duty to provide one facility per county.”