Booking system plans for Burgess Hill rubbish tip could be shelved

The system was launched in April 2021 as a way to combat the queues which were causing congestion on roads around the sites in Bognor Regis, Crawley, Horsham, Littlehampton, Shoreham and Worthing.

It proved to be a success and, by the end of January, more than 500,000 bookings had been made.

Councillors will discuss proposals to make the situation permanent during a communities, highways and environment scrutiny meeting on Wednesday (March 2).

Their recommendations will then be put to Deborah Urquhart, cabinet member for environment & climate change, who will decide whether or not to go ahead with the changes.

The option of extending the booking system to include the recycling sites at Burgess Hill, Billingshurst, East Grinstead, Midhurst and/or Westhampnett if needed will stay on the table.

A report to the committee said: “Consideration was given to adding Burgess Hill to the list of sites recommended for the permanent booking scheme.

“However, given that there is not an immediate need to do so, it is proposed to hold open this option.”

Officers describe how the Burgess Hill tip is the recycling centre most likely to be impacted by encroaching development as 325 homes are due to be built on the former sewage works nearby.

They added: “As these new homes are built and occupied, additional pressure is expected to be placed on the access road.”

The draft decision would give senior offices, in consultation with the cabinet member, the power to ‘introduce the booking system at any of these sites on a temporary or permanent basis should this be needed to manage congestion or respond to other issues’.