SOMERSET NEWS: White van man wins again at recycling centres

WHITE van man has taken pole permit position in the race to use Somerset’s quieter recycling sites where less crowding is improving services, enhancing efficiency and maintaining safety.

The new recycling site queue busting measures have produced revealing facts and figures about the thousands of residents who have applied for vehicle permits to bring in household waste.

White is by far the most favoured colour of van or pick-up among the 10,000-plus permit holders, followed by silver, blue, black, red, grey, green, yellow, brown, and shades like beige and cream.

Uncommon colours include “cocaine white”, “off-road grey” and “rainbow”, as well as the almost appetising melange of blackberry and burgundy, toffee and saffron, mustard and oyster.

Ford Transit is the commonest vehicle, then the VW Transporter, Citroen Berlingo, Ford Connect, Vauxhall Combo, Toyota Hilux, Peugeot Partner and Expert, VW Caddy, and Citroen Dispatch.

Unusual marques making an appearance range from an ancient Austin A35, Mini pick-ups and Morris 1000s to a wild west of Warriors, Animals, Rascals, Outlaws, Raging Bulls and Rodeos.

Somerset Waste Partnership’s one-man part-time team of boffins have been analysing the data since the scheme to cut disruption and ban out-of-county users began on Monday, October 3, 2016.

Earlier surveillance showed that the vast majority of recycling site users arrived without a trailer in a car, from estates to 4x4s, people carriers to campervans, and so needed no permit.

It also demonstrated that the largest, hardest-to-manoeuvre and heaviest laden vehicles created the greatest delays and disruption, so these can no longer bring in household waste.

And to bar “waste tourists” from out-of-county, drivers with car-towed single-axle trailers up to three metres floor length, and vans and pick-ups, must have a free Somerset-only permit.

About four per cent of Somerset’s 250,000 households have applied for permits, creating an instant new tribe or sociological sub-culture – permit hipsters or “pipsters” in today’s argot – worthy of study.

So far, research shows that the district with the highest proportion of permit holders is Sedgemoor, followed by West Somerset, South Somerset and Mendip, and Taunton Deane.

In line with population and households, the largest absolute numbers by district are in South Somerset, Sedgemoor, Mendip, Taunton Deane and West Somerset, respectively.

Perhaps predictably, the biggest figures by postcode come from Bridgwater’s TA6, Yeovil’s BA20 and BA21, Minehead and much else in West Somerset’s TA24, and Frome BA11.

Most permit applicants are presenting as male, but anecdotal findings suggest many use female emails. Or maybe women are – as always – doing most of the hard work, including family admin.

And there is a hint of gender bias in vehicle use; mixed-sex permit requests are mainly men driving vans or pick-ups - which cannot bring in trailers - and women in cars towing their trailers.

Finally, as if to prove their “pipster” credentials, this new tribe is proving that orange is definitely the new black by sporting their carrot-coloured permits on every recycling site visit.