Plans to close 12 tips across Hampshire could be detrimental and damaging to residents and the environment, councillors have warned.

Seven county councillors, representing areas from Basingstoke to Hayling Island, urged Hampshire County Council not to close 12 household waste and recycling centres proposed under the plan to fill the current financial gap of £175m forecasted to 2025/26.

The Conservative-led county council said that 12 of the 24 tips, those that offer “the least value for money”, could be shut in phases.

Those at risk are:

  • Aldershot
  • Bordon
  • Casbrook, Romsey
  • Hedge End
  • Marchwood
  • Petersfield
  • Somerley
  • Alresford
  • Bishop's Waltham
  • Fair Oak
  • Hartley Wintney
  • Hayling Island

The closures would save £1.6m, an increase of £400,000 from the original proposal.

Only eight per cent of the 10,533 respondents to a consultation supported the initiative.

At the last committee meeting of the scrutiny phase of the ‘Saving Proposal 2025’ that has been running throughout the month, councillors from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour, as well as independents, spoke against the proposal and reiterated to the council their residents demand to keep the tips open.

The meeting heard how the move would be detrimental and damaging to residents and the environment as drivers faced longer trips to tips.

Speaking about the closure of the Casbrook tip in the Romsey area, Lib Dem councillor Mark Cooper said that despite being a small site, it is very popular, and with the closure, Romsey residents would face a 10-mile round trip to their next nearest tip.

He added the extra carbon emissions from those journeys would not help the council achieve carbon neutrality.

Conservative councillor Lance Quantrill, representing Hayling Island, proposed opening the recycling centre for more days for the public to increase the number of visits and the volume of waste, therefore reducing the “chance” of fly-tipping.

Whitehill and Bordon Community Party councillor Andy Tree said that the closure of the Bordon and the Petersfield tip will create a “substantial service gap”, forcing Whitehill and Bordon area residents to travel for miles.

Regarding the tip in Hartley Wintney, Conservative councillor Tim Davis said that if the closure of the tip in his area goes ahead, “life will be very difficult for anybody who represents the division at Winchester”.

He added: “They [representatives] will be blamed or rather the county council will be blamed for a severe reduction in facilities offered to residents […] I feel very disappointed and feel sure that my residents feel absolutely devastated.”

Hampshire County Council officers confirmed that other initiatives to generate income at tips will not be pursued as the general public “wouldn’t use them anyway”. These could have included extra charges for discretionary services and, in particular, charges to book premium services.

The tip network in Hampshire is the largest in England, with 24 sites of different sizes. It costs more than £10 million per year to operate.

In 2022/23, Hampshire residents made 2.1 million bookings to deposit almost 120,000 tonnes of household waste across the network.

The select committee disagreed with the closure and recommended considering alternatives to keep the 12 tips open.

Cabinet will make the final decision on October 14.