'Bureaucratic madness!' Bridgnorth residents at tipping point as recycling centre booking system goes live
A new booking system for council-run recycling centres in Shropshire has led to frustrations in at least one of the county's towns.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Like with the rest of Shropshire Council's tips in Craven Arms, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, users of the recycling centre in Bridgnorth now have to book a slot if they wish to dispose of recycling or household waste.
Fifteen-minute slots will be available for cars, with 30-minutes slots (or 60 minutes at weekends) available for vans/trailers.
Shropshire Council says the move will help save money as the cash-strapped authority tries to plug a black hole in its finances of more than £60 million. The authority has also said the change to a booking system will increase recycling and reduce congestion.
But residents of Bridgnorth are not convinced.
After the new recycling system went live on Monday, householders took to social media to vent their frustration with what some called 'bureaucratic madness'.
One user said she booked a slot on Tuesday. "My partner went up for 9am - nobody else there, completely unnecessary, especially in the week!” she said.
Others described the booking system as “awful”.
One Facebook user said: “So I have some electrical items to drop off. I booked 3pm til 4pm but needed it to be around 3pm. But app doesn’t let you know time til it’s all booked - so it came back me 3.45pm which was too late so I cancelled.”
Others were concerned with the move will lead to an increase in fly-tipping in the town.
“They are deluded if they think this won’t increase fly-tipping. If someone can’t go when they get the spare chance from work , they will just lob it anywhere," one resident said.
Jude New told a Bridgnorth Facebook group: “There is no denying fly-tipping will automatically increase dramatically. Common sense. This new system is only increasing administration costs and time wastage.
“Plus all are not on line and time-consuming phone calls plus that cost. People want an easy, free and uncomplicated flowing system not bureaucratic madness. If it ain't broke don't mend it. Please don't put the high cost that fly-tipping causes on the council tax.”
What have your experiences been of using the new recycling centre booking system? Get in touch at newsroom@shropshirestar.co.uk.
