Pembrokeshire County Council's cabinet has unanimously backed plans to remove the booking system at all six waste and recycling centres, replacing it with automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) technology and resident vehicle registration.
At its meeting on October 5, the cabinet approved proposals to eliminate pre-booking requirements across the facilities at Waterloo in Pembroke Dock, Hermon, St Davids, Winsel in Haverfordwest, Crane Cross near Saundersfoot, and Manorowen near Fishguard.
Modernisation of services
The existing booking system was first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Presenting the report to fellow members, residents' services cabinet member Cllr Rhys Sinnett described the proposal as "a significant and much-needed modernisation of services".
The report stated: "The proposed approach will remove the requirement for residents to pre-book visits whilst maintaining resident-only access, restricting access by third-party waste contractors depositing commercial waste, and ensuring the council retains appropriate management and oversight of site usage."
It added: "The implementation of the removal of the booking system is judged to be more complex at some sites and, as such, the switch to the introduction of ANPR will be delivered through a phased implementation programme."
Phased rollout and costs
The changes will be rolled out across two distinct phases, with the first covering Waterloo, Hermon and St Davids, and the remaining three sites addressed in the second phase. The report noted: "While there are benefits to the booking system there is recognition that some members of the public find this system challenging and inflexible."
It emphasised: "The objective is not simply to remove an existing control mechanism, but to replace it with a more flexible and customer-focused approach that maintains the ability to manage demand, deter misuse and support safe site operations."
The report further noted that while "the majority of sites are not expected to require significant modification, some of the more complex locations may necessitate substantial reconfiguration to accommodate the proposed arrangements, resulting in additional costs".
Funding and implementation
The scheme is anticipated to cost £340,000 in capital expenditure and £67,000 annually in operational costs. However, this excludes "any potential infrastructure works identified in Phase 2," with a provisional allowance of £80,000 per site included for Phase 1 and £200,000 per site within Phase 2.
The report continued: "Across the programme, this provides a maximum contingency provision of up to £1.2m for the whole project." It confirmed the fully integrated system would require a minimum of 12 months to implement.
Council leader Cllr Tessa Hodgson described the proposals as "really welcome" and stated the improvements were "a priority for this administration". Members unanimously backed the changes.
