PLANS to sell

waste permits

to people living on the borders of Monmouthshire have suffered a setback after it emerged any out-of-county waste accrued at the county council's sites could harm waste targets.

Unless a formal agreement is made between Monmouthshire and a neighbouring local authority, regulator WasteDataFlow said extra waste allowed into the county’s four Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) would be included in Monmouthshire’s landfill and recycling targets, which are set by the Welsh Government.

Newport councillor Ray Mogford has been pushing for a deal to be struck with Monmouthshire to allow fee-paying residents of his Langstone ward access to the nearby Five Lanes HWRC.

In July, Monmouthshire said it was open to bringing in such an arrangement, but guidance from WasteDataFlow could jeopardise the odds of this happening.

Reacting to the latest developments, Cllr Mogford said: “Common sense would say residents could use their nearest recycling centre, even if that meant paying. We don’t expect something for nothing.”

He added: “We’re serious about this and want a solution.”

Cllr Mogford said he had contacted local assembly members in the hope the Welsh Government would intervene.

Non-residents had been able to access Monmouthshire’s HWRCs until June 1 this year, when the local authority introduced residents’ waste permits. The move coincided with reduced opening hours at the council’s four HWRCs.

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In a statement, a Monmouthshire council spokesman said a decision had not yet been made about selling out-of-county permits.

“We will analyse data for a while longer so that we can put an evidence based position to councillors later this year,” he added.

There are signs the council’s waste policies are working, the spokesman said.

“We saw a substantial reduction in waste entering the sites in June 2019 compared to June 2018, and also when compared to tonnages in May 2019,” he said. “In this one month alone, there was a reduction of £30,000 in disposal and treatment costs across Monmouthshire’s four sites, compared to the same month last year.”