The Richborough waste and recycling centre looks set to close as part of Kent County Council measures to save £55 million on its budget.
A consultation is expected to launch in July with three options for closures – but Richborough is earmarked to shut on all of the options.
The other sites earmarked for closure under all options is Faversham.
A report to members on the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee – due to meet on May 23 – says: “Over the past decade, KCC has implemented a range of policy and service changes at Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) that have resulted in annual revenue savings of over £5m.
“The delivery of KCC’s medium term financial plan requires additional savings of £2.2m at HWRCs over the next two years. Around £700,000 of this is allocated to the delivery of greater materials segregation for recycling, increased reuse, black bag splitting to prevent materials going into residual waste and increasing trade waste recycling.
“The remaining £1.5m is allocated to a review of the number and operation of the sites. Of this £1.5m saving, the aim is to reduce the cost of the service by £500,000 in 2023/24, with a further £1m saving in 2024/25.”
Three options have been put forward:
Option 1 closure of sites at Dartford, Richborough, Maidstone and Faversham
Option 2 closure of Faversham, Maidstone and Richborough and 10 sites not co-located with a transfer station to close for two days per week
Option 3 Closure of Dartford, Faversham and Richborough and 10 sites not co-located with a transfer station to close for two days per week.
It means all options would lead to the closure of some sites- with Richborough named in all three – with two options closing fewer sites but reducing the opening hours on a number of the remaining sites.
A 12-week consultation with the public and with other stakeholders takes place on these options in July.
Waste centres in Kent
KCC currently operates a network of 19 Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) spread across the county. The sites receive approximately 1.7m visits per year, with around 96,000 tonnes of material being managed through the network.
Over the past decade, a range of policy and service changes have taken place including charging for non-household waste materials such as soil, rubble, hardcore, plasterboard and tyres, restricting access to the site for certain vehicles, from April 2023, charging non-Kent residents £10 to visit the sites and operating a booking system.
KCC says use of the sites has reduced significantly over the past five years. In 2017/18, 175,172 tonnes of material were managed through the sites, which reduced to 94,250 tonnes in 2022/23. Over the same period, the amount of fly tipped waste collected by district and borough councils reduced from 3,794 tonnes to 2,175 tonnes.
Full site closures will mean no longer paying business rates, utility costs, contractor charges, reduced haulage charges and where appropriate, lease costs.
The report says: “Analysis shows that it would be possible to meet the £1.5m savings target through the closure of sites at Dartford, Richborough, Maidstone and Faversham. This would reduce the number of households within a 20 minute off peak drive of a HWRC by 11,953, which equates to a reduction from 96% to 94.2% of all Kent households. The capacity of the network would also be reduced by 13,920 slots per week.”
For part closures the report says this could still achieve the £1.5million savings but: “the sites at Faversham and Richborough would need to close under all options.”
‘Challenging decisions’
Kent County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Susan Carey, said: “The budget for 2023/24 agreed by KCC councillors in February identified the need to save £55 million this year from spending reductions and increased income to balance the budget. These savings are necessary to balance the books as the cost of services KCC provides has risen by more than £200 million.
“As part of these savings we are having to make some very challenging decisions about where we can offer our services in the most cost effective and efficient way possible.
“A report on KCC’s Household Waste Recycling Centre network will be discussed by the Environment & Transport Cabinet Committee on 23rd May with a proposal that a public consultation should take place to gather the views of residents and wider stakeholders.
“No decisions will be made until all options and feedback from the consultation have been considered.”
