New Forest campaign to save Marchwood and Somerley tips

Hampshire County Council has drawn up proposals to shut as many as 12 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), including the ones at Marchwood and Somerley.

Critics claim the potential closures will result in more fly-tipping, which is already a serious problem in the Forest.

As reported, the authority is facing a budget shortfall of £132m by April 2025. All departments have been told to cut costs and look at ways of providing only the legal minimum of services.

New Forest coucillors Jack Davies, Richard Gray and Caroline Rackham outside Efford tip (Image: Liberal Democrats)

In 2022/23 Hampshire residents booked 2.1 million tip visits, depositing almost 120,000 tonnes of household waste across the network.

The campaign to save the Marchwood and Somerley sites has been launched by local Liberal Democrats.

READ MORE: Hampshire County Council could close up to 12 tips in bid to save £1.6m a year

Cllr Jack Davies, the party's parliamentary candidate for New Forest West, said: "Closing the sites would leave Pennington as the sole HWRC for the whole of the Forest.

"The queues and tailbacks will be unimaginable.”

Cllr Caroline Rackham, parliamentary candidate for New Forest East, added: "Closing these recycling centres will only encourage fly-tipping, and any savings made will be eaten up in additional costs for clearing up our forest.”

Critics claim the New Forest will see an increase in fly-tipping if tips are closed (Image: Newsquest)

Any closures are likely to be implemented in the summer of 2025.

Cllr Davies said people living in the far north-west of the Forest would face a 22-mile journey to the nearest surviving tip - Efford - if the Somerley site was axed.

The Marchwood tip survived a previous closure threat in 2016.

READ MORE: Thousands respond to controversial proposal to close Marchwood recycling centre

Totton and Marchwood county councillor David Harrison said: "Is there any other country in the world where you have to revive a campaign every few years, just to save basic council services?

"I must admit to a little frustration that it's even necessary to organise petitions and social media campaigns every so often for something that should never be threatened - the opportunity for people to dispose of their unwanted waste at a local tip."

In response, the county council said: "It's often suggested that changes to HWRC services such as charges, reduced opening hours or closures would lead to an increase in fly-tipping.

"However, where other local authorities have closed sites or reduced opening hours there is no evidence to suggest this is true.

"Our experience in Hampshire suggests that fly-tipping is mainly carried out by criminal organisations looking to avoid charges for disposal, rather than householders."