Hertfordshire County Council's non-resident tip ban branded 'silly'

More than half of users who use the Royston Recycling Centre are from outside Hertfordshire

A councillor has branded a neighbouring authority's recent ban on non-residents using its tips as "silly".

Cambridgeshire County Council wants its residents to be able to use Royston Recycling Centre and others in Hertfordshire and is prepared to pay.

The Hertfordshire authority put in the ban after research showed much of the rubbish it was processing came from residents living in border counties.

It said the ban would not be in place while agreements were discussed.

When Hertfordshire agreed its non-resident ban in March, it said more than one in five users at its sites came from outside the county, and at some it was more than half.

It said restricting the use to residents only could save about £433,000 a year.

Cambridgeshire County Council's environment and green investment committee has now backed looking into the principle of reciprocal access and cost-sharing arrangements with its neighbour.

'Cancel out'

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said a report to the committee showed 52.78% of people who used the Royston site were from Cambridgeshire.

That compared to 12.24% of Hertfordshire residents who used the Thriplow Recycling Centre eight miles (13km) away.

Cambridgeshire councillor Nick Gay, Labour, said it was "regrettable" Hertfordshire had made its decision and wished the neighbouring authority would "stop being so silly".

"I think it is clear that this issue exists not just for Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, but for Suffolk, Norfolk, Peterborough and Bedfordshire as well... I am sure the out-of-county people using our facilities and vice versa just cancel itself out," he said.

Hertfordshire County Council said Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire and Essex had all expressed an interest in reciprocal agreements, so it was allowing residents from those areas to continue using its centres while these were discussed.

A spokesman said: "We've always been happy in principle to let Cambridgeshire residents use our recycling centres, on the understanding that in return our residents can use sites in Cambridgeshire under a reciprocal arrangement.

"We're looking forward to working with Cambridgeshire County Council to arrange this."