The Council maintained five bring sites in the Borough and there were ongoing contamination issues at the following bring sites: Brentwood Centre, Rayleigh Road and the Town Hall.  The West Horndon site had similar issues, however this was closed as of 12 August 2016. 

The Environment Panels of 16 September 2014 and 12 November 2014 recognised the issues; since then the bring sites at Blackmore Village Hall, Crown corner, Hunter Avenue car park, Mountnessing Village Hall, and William Hunter Way had been closed.  The Waste Strategy Group of 4 July 2016 acknowledged there were continuing adverse issues at the remaining bring sites and as such suggested closure of at least two sites. 

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Hossack and SECONDED by Cllr Poppy to approve the recommendations in the report.

A vote was taken by a show of hands and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

1.    The Committee agreed to the closure of the following bring sites: Brentwood Centre, Rayleigh Road and the Town Hall.

2.    The Committee recognised that a number of residents wished to continue to dispose of their recyclables at a bring site, therefore the bring site at Warley would receive additional investment and be enhanced. 

Reasons for recommendation

It was recognised that bring sites played an important part in the past but they were regarded as an anachronism due to the comprehensive kerbside collection services provided by the Council.  Dry mixed recyclables and residual waste were collected on a weekly basis, negating the need for residents to seek alternate methods of disposal.

The non-recyclable waste material deposited at bring sites had an adverse impact on the street scene and could also be hazardous, for example at the Rayleigh Road bring site – broken glass was regularly scattered about the adjacent play area and material was used to start a fire which damaged a piece of play equipment.  This had raised concerns about young persons using the play area safely. 

The Brentwood Centre bring sites had ongoing issues, which had been identified by the CEO of the Brentwood Leisure Trust - Appendix A of the report showed a copy of the letter dated 25 August 2016 supporting the closure of the bring site.  The Brentwood Centre had a high profile in the borough and the presence of the bring site was not a welcome one for residents and others visiting the centre.  Further benefits of the closure would be an improvement to the quality of the local environment and the additional car parking spaces that would be freed up. 

The Town Hall bring sites also had detrimental impact on the immediate environment and the image of the Town Hall.

The bring sites incurred significant costs and the closure of bring sites suggested would enable better use of resources.

Residual waste crews had to visit each bring site on average three times a week to tip at least 50% of the recycling containers.  The man hours of over 700 hours equated to costs in excess of £13,000 p.a with an additional £3,000 p.a costs which attributed to the attention provided by the street care teams.  Recycling collection also incurred similar costs to the residual waste collections.  The diverted costs would enable resources to be better utilised elsewhere.

Unmanned bring sites were open to abuse, but the Operational Services would be able to monitor and control with greater scrutiny the use of the bring site at Warley as the location was immediately adjacent to the Works Depot. 

It was intended to upgrade the Warley bring site to improve its appearance and to ensure that abuse was limited.  Containers would be renewed at a cost of £2,700, with the addition of a container for small household electrical items.  Signage, barriers and surfaces would also be improved at an estimated cost of £5,000 to £6,000 and depending upon location, additional surveillance would be deployed at an estimated cost of up to £5,000.

If the closures were approved, signage would be erected at those sites stating that they were closed and would indicate available disposal sites: eg Warley bring site, RCHW sites at Mountnessing and Coxtie Green Road.