Council drops plans for Discovery Card and recycling centre changes

Bath & North East Somerset Council has dropped its plans to cut the hours of recycling centres and introduce a charge for its Discovery Cards.

The Guildhall in Bath

The council had proposed saving £200,000 a year by reducing the hours at Bath Recycling Centre and Old Welton Recycling Centre in Midsomer Norton and, at the same time, generating an estimated £50,000 a year by introducing a “small charge” for the council’s Residents’ Discovery Cards.

Both measures were going to be included in the council’s budget for 2026/27, which goes to a vote later this month, but have now been dropped.

Councillor Mark Elliott (Lansdown, Liberal Democrat), the council cabinet member for resources, said in a statement: “The council is committed to listening to residents and I want to thank everyone who took part in the budget consultation.

“As a result of your feedback we will keep the same opening hours for our waste and recycling centres and won’t be changing the terms of the residents’ discovery card.”

The cards are available for free to residents of Bath and North East Somerset grant free admission to some attractions such as the Roman Baths and a host of discounts across the area.

The idea of introducing a charge for the cards generated about a third of all responses to the council’s budget consultation.

Presenting the council’s budget to the council’s corporate scrutiny committee on 3rd February, Councillor Elliott warned that it was still a “challenging environment”.

The council has proposed a host of both cuts and new income in order to close a £7.4 million budget gap.

Councillor Elliott said that, on top of increasing costs for adult and children’s social care, the government’s “fair funding review” of local government finance meant that Bath & North East Somerset Council would lose out on £12.6 million over the next three years.

Council tax is once again proposed to increase by the maximum 4.99%, two percentage points of which will be ringfenced for spending on adult social care.

That will be another £90.97 a year for an average band D household, or £1.75 a week.

This means the council will bring in just over £7 million more in council tax next year, but Councillor Elliott said the council also had to spend an additional £6.4 million on adults and children’s social care, after savings were taken into account.

He said: “I know that we sometimes get asked: ‘where does my council tax go?’ Primary, that is the answer. It goes on supporting the most vulnerable people in the area.”

Councillor Andy Wait (Keynsham East, Liberal Democrat) told the meeting he was “very pleased” that the cuts to the recycling centre hours had been dropped.

The idea had sparked concern when the budget proposal was considered by the council’s climate scrutiny committee, which Councillor Wait chairs.

He told Councillor Elliott: “That was number one on our list of moans about the budget because we felt that there was a risk that there would be a lot of extra mileage to the Keynsham site if those cuts went ahead – so thank you for listening to the panel.”

Chair of the corporate scrutiny committee, Councillor Robin Moss (Westfield, Labour), said he was also pleased that the proposal had been dropped and that discovery cards would not be charged for.

But vice chair Councillor Malcolm Treby (Weston, Liberal Democrat) questioned plans to generate an estimated £250,000 from using new council powers to fine people for traffic infractions such as stopping in a yellow box.

Councillor Treby said: “Other councils around the country have used this as a significant revenue stream.

“I think that would concern residents around Bath … if we were to use it in that sort of way.”

Councillor Elliott said: “I would be surprised if any council was found to be engineering things to make money out of that.

“The primary purpose of it is to enforce the traffic offence, not to make money.”

The budget will go before Bath * North East Somerset Council’s cabinet on 12th February, before going to a vote at the full council meeting in Bath Guildhall on 24th February.

Councillor Elliott’s statement added: “Despite facing a £12.5m cut over the next three years, as a result of the government’s ‘fair funding review,’ this is a budget that protects services for children and older people while continuing to invest in our road network, support public transport, and keep our streets clean and safe.”

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter