Purpose

Dorset
Council operates 10 HRCs, handling around 55,000 tonnes of materials annually
with a cost of approximately £5.12 million for the fiscal year 2024/25.
Additionally, Dorset Council pays £737,416 per annum to neighbouring
authorities to allow Dorset residents to use their HRCs (Hampshire County
Council £302,416 and BCP Council £435,000).

 

A
part year saving of £60,000 was put forward by the Waste Service for the
2025/26 financial year, from restricting neighbouring authority residents form
using Dorset’s HRCs. The introduction of a booking system is required to allow
for this saving to be delivered. This saving was included in Dorset Council’s
2025/26 budget which was approved by Full Council on 11 February 2025.

 

The
key benefits and deliverables from introducing a booking system are:

 

(i)            
Reduce disposal costs from preventing non-Dorset
residents from accessing the HRCs for free.

 

(ii)           
Improve the visitor experience and pollution from
reduced queues to access HRCs.

 

(iii)         
Deter trade waste abuse

 

(iv)         
Improve communication with customers by providing
timely updates, reminders and notifications through the booking system

 

(v)          
Provide essential new data on site usage, visitor
patterns, and customer feedback to support future data-driven decision making

 

Following
public feedback, the implementation of the booking system has been agreed upon
as follows:

 

(i)            
Shaftesbury and Sherborne HRCs: All visits must
be booked prior to attendance. These sites were selected to achieve the full
£120,000 savings per annum by stopping non-Dorset residents from using Dorset’s
HRCs for free.

 

(ii)          
Dorchester and Wimborne HRCs: All visits must
be booked prior to attendance. These sites experience the most significant
queuing and congestion issues, which the booking system will address.

 

(iii)         
All remaining HRCs (Blandford,
Bridport, Portland, Swanage, Wareham, and Weymouth): Bookings will only be
required for DIY waste visits, which is the current requirement. Automatic
Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will be deployed to monitor site usage,
and this data will be used to drive future decisions for these sites.

Content

To introduce a
booking system for all visits to the Dorchester, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, and
Wimborne HRCs. The remaining HRCs (Blandford, Bridport, Portland, Swanage,
Wareham, and Weymouth) will require bookings only for DIY waste which is
currently already required. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras
will be deployed to monitor site usage at all 10 sites, and this data will be
used to inform future decisions. All bookings will be made online until the
Intelligent Virtual Agent is ready to handle phone bookings.

Reasons for the decision

Dorset Council
operates 10 HRCs, handling around 55,000 tonnes of materials annually with a
cost of approximately £5.12 million for the fiscal year 2024/25. Additionally,
Dorset Council pays £737,416 per annum to neighbouring authorities to allow
Dorset residents to use their HRCs (Hampshire County Council £302,416 and BCP
Council £435,000).

 

A part year saving
of £60,000 was put forward by the Waste Service for the 2025/26 financial year,
from restricting neighbouring authority residents form using Dorset’s HRCs. The
introduction of a booking system is required to allow for this saving to be
delivered. This saving was included in Dorset Council’s 2025/26 budget which
was approved by Full Council on 11 February 2025.

Alternative options considered

Alternative Options
considered and rejected

 

The booking system
has been developed following consultation with other local authorities who have
introduced similar systems. Alternative delivery of the systems has been
considered and the intended implementation method is considered optimum in
terms of service delivery and value for money.