Dismay over decision to introduce booking system for East Sussex waste sites

The proposals were agreed by councillor Claire Dowling, ESCC’s lead member for transport and environment, on Monday, February 24.

The decision means residents must book a 30-minute slot by phone or online before visiting any of the ten sites in the county.

Lewes Liberal Democrats described opposition to this as ‘overwhelming’, pointing to a Lib Dem petition that gathered more than 3,500 signatures and a public consultation where 91 per cent of respondents were against the idea.

Lewes Lib Dem MP James MacCleary said: “This decision is nothing short of a slap in the face to local people who engaged in good faith with the consultation. The booking system is an unnecessary, inconvenient barrier that undermines a service which has reliably worked for East Sussex residents for years. The Council’s move shows a blatant disregard for the real needs of local people and shows the council won’t listen to people’s concerns.”

He continued: “It’s unacceptable for the County Council to ignore the overwhelming response from residents that our current walk-in system is both effective and essential. We ask that the Council reverse this misguided decision and restore a user-friendly service that truly meets the needs of our community.”

Lewes Lib Dems fear the change could lead to more fly-tipping and could marginalise people without easy internet access. They said the council appeared ‘more focused on cutting costs’ than ‘serving community needs’ and addressing congestion problems.

An ESCC spokesperson said: “Having considered the responses to the public consultation and the Lewes Liberal Democrats petition, as well as the recommendations set out in the report, the lead member agreed to the introduction of a booking system at the county’s household waste and recycling centres. The lead member took the decision after considering a number of factors including an estimated annual saving of £50,000 as the authority looks to address a significant funding gap, as well as the potential benefits to residents including reducing queuing at sites, helping to prevent trade waste being taken to sites, and stopping people from outside the county using the facilities to which they do not contribute.”

One Ringmer resident contacted this newspaper to say he had submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council.

John Kay, of Fair Meadow, Rushey Green, said it seemed ‘entirely in character’ that ESCC would carry out a consultation exercise, receive a high response opposed to it and then ‘decide, nevertheless, that it knew best, and that the public response should be ignored’.

He said: “This might not be entirely unexpected, but it does show quite a breath-taking level of arrogance.”

In his FOI request John questioned what the cost of the recent public consultation was to ESCC.

Responding to the Sussex Express about this, an ESCC spokesperson said: “No external costs were incurred in the running of the public consultation.”

They added that the booking system is expected to be introduced during the 2025/26 financial year.