Charges at the Southern Civic Amenity Site in Port St Mary have been increased for certain commercial waste and are due to come into effect from April 1.

Plasterboard disposal has gone up the most by 9.7%, while depositing rubble, wood and glass at the site will also incur increased costs.

‘Increases’ to waste disposal charges and transportation costs are being blamed for the rise.

Back in December, the site announced that it would be closing its reuse/reclaim area by the end of 2023 to prioritise its commercial waste service.

A spokesperson from the site said: ‘Due to budget challenges, changes in staffing arrangements at the site and the board’s desire to continue to support local businesses by operating a trade waste service, the continuation of providing a reuse area is unfortunately no longer a viable option for the site.’ A resident from Port Erin, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the loss of the reclaim area is ‘unfair’ to anyone living in the south of the island.

They said: ‘Ratepayers in the north, west and east are provided with a reclaim facility at their respective amenity sites but we are denied one.

‘A local plumber that recently did some work for me informed me that he wanted to take a socket set from an area of the site where it had been left by someone who no longer wanted it.

‘He did not have to rummage through rubbish which could have been deemed unsafe, he was able to pick it up without injury to himself or anyone else.

‘A member of staff at the Southern Amenity Site shouted at him and told him to put it back as it was not permitted to take any items left. When he asked what was going to happen to it he was informed that it would be burnt, along with many other perfectly reusable items.’

The chair of the Southern Civic Amenity Site board, Jerry Ludford-Brooks, said that priority has now been given to commercial waste because of the reduced staffing levels.

He said: ‘The southern site is the only one in the island permitted to accept commercial waste, and in offering this service provides a waste drop off point to more than 200 local businesses.

‘With the reduced staffing levels, the board has made the decision to continue to focus its staffing resources to support this service.

‘The reuse area had also seen an increase in site users hiding items which require payment, such as televisions, laptops and monitors, as well as leaving items which were dangerous and of risk to the public.’

Additional reporting by Emma Draper