HAMPSHIRE County Council has said it may introduce “nominal charges” at its household waste recycling centres as a campaign to “save” Alton’s tip gains momentum.

On Monday, the county council looked at steps to address an anticipated financial shortfall of £140m by April 2019.

The council’s cabinet agreed that officers should “look again” into “other ways” of plugging the budget gap. While no formal decisions have been made, among the possibilities proposed was closing “up to half” of Hampshire’s recycling centres.

According to a recent county council agenda report, the saving would be “approximately £100,000 per site”, meaning the council could claw back an estimated £1.2m in total.

Campaigners gathered recently at Alton’s recycling centre to voice their support for the Omega Park facility. The protest, organised by the local Labour Party, came as the local Liberal Democrat group said it planned to hand a ‘Save Alton’s Recycling Centre’ petition, with almost 3,500 signatures, to Hampshire County Council on November 2 ahead of its full council meeting.

The authority is in a difficult position with regard to its finances and Alton county councillor Andrew Joy said “no stone is being left unturned” as members drill down on where savings can be made.

He also insisted campaigners are “jumping the gun” and explained that even if the county council did go through with such cuts, Alton’s centre would be unlikely to close due to its “strategic location” and “high usage”.

“There has been no expressed threat to Alton whatsoever,” he added.

But some people fear the worst as the county council forecast stormy fiscal seas.

“The extent of the financial challenge that we continue to face is well-known,” said council leader Roy Perry.

“With our revenue support grant from the government soon coming to an end, together with rising inflation and significant increases in the numbers of elderly people, younger adults and children needing care, the pressures are mounting and we have some extremely hard decisions to make.

“I remain firmly of the view that our priority must continue to be supporting the growing numbers of vulnerable children and adults who rely on our care, and for whom we have a statutory responsibility – an approach residents have told us they also support. It is important to be aware that we are actually considering almost an £8m increase in the funding allocated to children’s care.”

Mr Perry continued: “Achieving a further £140m of savings, on top of the

£340m of spending reductions we have had to make since our funding from central Government began to reduce in 2008, will be our biggest challenge to date.

“I understand and sympathise with the pressure the Government faces in preventing the national debt spiralling out of control, but as a consequence local Government faces huge impacts.

“Of the £140m we have to save, only approximately £40m comes from reduced grant, whilst £50m is down to inflation, and a further £50m comes from demographic pressure – from higher numbers of adults needing care, not just the elderly and more children in care. We continue to put Hampshire’s case to Government, communicating with ministers and MPs to encourage them to take a fresh look at the ideas we have for easing some of these problems, through options such the introduction of nominal charges at our household waste recycling centres, for example.

“People are telling us they would prefer a nominal charge than to lose a convenient local service. I hope the Government might let us pilot some of these ideas.”

And he added: “It’s crucial that we continue to leave no stone unturned and revisit all possible options for reducing spending in the future. At the county cabinet meeting today, I proposed a motion that fellow councillors supported, asking county council officers to look again into whether there are other ways of achieving some of their proposed economies - so that we can continue to support services such as household waste recycling centres, school crossing patrols and community transport in future, if possible.”

Following a protest on October 7, Neal McTaggart, Labour coordinator for the Wooteys area, said closing Alton’s recycling centre would have “a huge effect” on the lives of residents and “would lead to a huge increase in fly-tipping”.

The county council said it provides more recycling centres than comparable authorities and almost 85 per cent of the population are currently within five miles of a centre.

However, the council added that “closure of up to half of the household waste recycling centre network will result in longer travel distances for some users”.

Mr Perry went on: “Hampshire’s town and parish councils also have a valuable part to play, which is why we are proposing that £500,000 is made available for more joint initiatives with the county council, to enable these local communities take a more active role in supporting some services.

“Officers had suggested a £250,000 fund, but members doubled that to £500,000. We are confident many parishes and towns will rise to that challenge and we want to help them to help their communities.

“By law the county council must deliver a balanced budget, and we are considering carefully the implications of the proposals.”