Anyone who uses a works van as their only vehicle was nearly banned from using South Gloucestershire’s Sort-It centres for their personal waste – but the Tory plan was stopped by Liberal Democrats.

In a meeting of the Communities Committee, Tories proposed that vehicles will need to be registered to use the Sort-It facilities in future. The plan included that “any vehicle registered to a business will be declined”.

Claire Young (Westerleigh ward Cllr) said: “If this had passed, anyone with a small business who only owns their work vehicle would have been stopped from using our Sort-It centres. They would have had no way to dump their personal household waste.

“We successfully proposed an amendment asking officers to come up with a scheme so people whose only vehicle is their work vehicle can still go to the Sort-It centres. They will only be allowed to transport household waste – but they mustn’t be stopped from using our environmental services.

“The Tories plan would have stopped many people who own or work for small business from using the centres, and Labour abstained and refused to vote. Our message to small business is clear: Only the Liberal Democrats are standing up for you.”

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