Residents of Ross-on-Wye may be able to look forward to an additional day to use the Household Waste Recycling Centre if Herefordshire Council agrees to a trial.

The Mayor of Ross, Councillor Harry Bramer told Ross Town Council, at the meeting on Monday, November 12th, that he was pushing the County Council for permission for a trial which would include an extra day.

Ever since the facility opened local residents have complained that it is not open enough. The reasons have always been given as planning and finance. Cllr Bramer said:?“I have taken advice and we should be able to deal with the planning applications without any issues, which just leaves the cost. He said it will cost about £50,000 a year to cover the extra costs of the disposal of increased waste.

However, he added that if they reduced the amount of waste that the centre had to deal with, by restricting use to residents of Herefordshire then this would cover the extra costs involved.

He said that this would be considered as part of the trial.

At the moment people come from the Forest of Dean and other areas but by not dealing with non-residents’ waste he said:?“the facility could save enough money to cover costs.”

He added that it has always been that Ross has only opened for three days a week and other towns in the county have longer times, Leominster has seven days but he said Ross has twice as many visits on the days it is open than Leominster. He suggested that it was not the answer to just take days from Leominster and give them to Ross. He said:?“This could be a better way of doing it.”

He said:?“This would be a trial, it is not a done deal. We would have to see if the trial works.”

Councillor Richard Mayo said:?“It will be important to generate lots of publicity when the trial starts. We have to let people know so that they use it on the extra day, otherwise Herefordshire Council will be able to say that there is not really a need.”

Cllr Bramer said that, although the facility may be busier in the summer he wanted the trial to start in the winter, rather than waiting for next summer, as he wanted to get on with it.

Councillor Julian Utting said that if non-residents were turned away it may increase flytipping. Cllr Nigel Gibbs asked if Monday is a good day for the extra day and Cllr Bramer said that these issues would all be considered during the trial.