RESIDENTS have raised concerns about how household waste and recycling facilities as the population of Basingstoke and Deane increases

Residents already have complained of issues getting to the Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC), in Wade Road, with some people reporting traffic queues of more than an hour just to get on to the site.

As housing developments such as Manydown, Chapel Hill and the north of Basingstoke site look to bring more people into the borough, residents are concerned the HWRC site won’t be able to cope with the increased volume of waste.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Queues at Basingstoke tip are out of control – often the queue runs out onto Wade Road up to the roundabout in the business park, causing huge queues with both tip visitors and business park traffic.

“With hundreds/thousands of homes being built in Basingstoke, which means greater demand, where’s the tip capacity for this going to come from? Are there any plans?”

As previously reported in the Gazette, other residents have raised concerns with access to the Wade Road site, which is run by Hampshire County Council.

The concern is if people cannot easily access the HWRC it will lead to a rise in flytipping throughout the borough.

Councillor Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at the county council, said: “More people do come to use the household waste recycling centres during good weather. To help with this, all the HWRCs are open for longer during the summer, from 9am to 6pm, and are open seven days a week.

“We have live web cams at all the sites so people can see how busy a particular site is before making a trip. Staff at the site work hard to help customers, and all parking bays and containers are clearly marked.

“We would advise people to sort their waste as they pack their car, such as wood or garden waste so it can be unloaded quickly into the correct container at the other end, making everyone’s trips to the HWRCs as efficient as possible, and help reduce queuing.

“We’re aware of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s plans for future growth and are working with them to ensure that we explore every opportunity to improve the recycling infrastructure for the area.”