‘Ridiculously huge queues’ blight Horsham tip

This is the view of Horsham District Councillor Christine Costin, who hit out at the long queues at Hop Oast tip over the weekend, January 4 and 5.

She said: “The situation with our local West Sussex County Council tips is simply not acceptable.

“The festive season generates loads of extra rubbish. Responsible people want to dispose of it responsibly.”

Councillor Costin said her son-in-law visited Hop Oast tip on Saturday but gave up and tried again Sunday due to ‘ridiculously huge queues’.

She added: “Many people were turning round and going back. After several attempts Paul tried Billingshurst, and after a much shorter wait he was able to disperse his rubbish in a proper manner.”

Hop Oast tip is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but it should open on those days ‘at the very least’, according to councillor Costin.

She said: “Proper advice should be published and all this red tape around proving ‘where you come from’ should be dropped or streamlined.

“Cleaning up flytipping is costly for Horsham District Council. It’s revolting and none of us wants to see it.”

A West Sussex County Council spokeswoman said the council understood residents’ frustration at the ‘inevitable’ queues caused by busy times in the year.

She added: “We thank everyone for their patience.”

Tip users were urged to have their ID ready at the gate to cut waiting times. The checks were brought in to save taxpayers an estimated £250,000 a year, and is due in part to tougher restrictions imposed by neighbouring authorities, with an average of 10 per cent of tip users living outside West Sussex she added. The spokeswoman said: “These changes were introduced on December 1, one of the quietest times of the year, which allowed us to roll the scheme out prior to the post-Christmas period.

“Most district and borough councils will take extra recycling as long as it is kept clean, dry and loose.”