A new booking system for people wishing to visit any of Shropshire Council’s five household recycling centres comes into effect today.
People visiting the centres will need to book a slot in advance – and bookings can be made up to six days in advance.
Residents living in the Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council areas must book to visit one of the centres – located in Craven Arms, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch.
Bookings can be made online via the Shropshire Council website – or by phone by calling the council’s customer services team.
Bookings can be made for cars, and for vans/trailers. Fifteen-minute slots will be available for cars, with 30-minutes slots (or 60 minutes at weekends) available for vans/trailers
The booking system will save Shropshire Council money by reducing the cost of disposing of trade waste, non-recyclable waste and waste from outside Shropshire.
Shropshire Council says the new system will help to reduce congestion and queuing times, and increase recycling as centre staff will be able to better engage with visitors.
Lib Dems say they would look at abolishing new system
Shropshire’s Liberal Democrats have said they would look to abolish the Household Recycling Centre booking system introduced by the Conservatives.
In a statement, Cllr Rob Wilson (Shadow Portfolio Holder for Climate, Environment and Transport) said: “In six months the residents of Shropshire will go to the polls, if they put their trust in the Liberal Democrats we will be looking to abolish the Tory booking system from day one.
He added “This is a solution in search of a problem. If the Conservatives had listened to the 18000 people who responded to their consultation, they would have heard that 59% of residents opposed the introduction of the booking system, and only a quarter supported it. Comments highlighted that it was too much hassle, unnecessary and counterproductive.
“I have little faith that this system will produce any savings at all. There is a clear choice at the Local Elections in May, a fresh start with the Liberal Democrats, or more muddled and chaotic decision making from the Conservatives.”