ALL of Hampshire’s household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) are set to continue operating following a four month public consultation on their future.

Hampshire County Council’s executive member for environment and transport Cllr Rob Humby will recommend that the authority keeps open all 24 centres, including the Andover site, in his report to his select committee, which he will present later this month.

However the council boss will also recommend that all sites close every Thursday from October and that they operate a later opening time of 11am.

Various charges are also set to be introduced.

These include charges for DIY construction materials, such as wooden fence panels, as well as accepting waste from small businesses for a fee.

A charge of £2 for people from outside the county wishing to use Hampshire’s services.

The recommendations follow-on from a four-month public consultation looking into the council’s plans to make a £1.5 million cut to the Hampshire-wide service.

A total of 12,000 residents responded to consultation, with 92 per cent of all responses opposing proposals to close half of Hampshire’s centres.

Cllr Humby said: “I will be looking closely at the report and recommendations over the coming weeks but I am very pleased to see that it looks like a way has been developed to meet Hampshire residents’ highest priority and keep all of Hampshire’s 24 HWRCs open, while achieving the savings the county council needs to make for this year.

“Hampshire has a large number of HWRCs compared with other local authorities, and with the continued reductions in government funding, it’s clear we simply cannot afford to carry on as before and provide this same seven-day-a-week level of service.

“We asked Hampshire residents what changes they would be willing to see to establish a financially sustainable way to run the HWRCs, and it was clear that their main priority was to retain their local site.

“No stone has been left unturned in finding ways to make ends meet to keep every one of Hampshire’s HWRCs open.

“In order to do this, a number of changes will need to happen which include reducing opening hours through a later opening time, while retaining the 6pm summer and 4pm winter closing times, closing all the HWRCs for one day in the week, and introducing a small charge for people from outside of Hampshire to allow them to continue using Hampshire’s service.

“I realise that there is a concern that any changes to HWRC opening hours could increase fly-tipping which is both illegal and damaging to the environment, and I would like to reassure residents that we are working on new and robust tactics to tackle this.

“I am hopeful that all these components of savings and small charges mean that we can keep Hampshire’s network of 24 sites, which is what residents have told us they want.”

Cllr Humby will present his report to the council’s economy, transport and environment select committee on Tuesday.

He will then present the final outcome on his Decision Day on Friday, July 22.