A call to overturn a Cabinet-backed decision to scrap Pembrokeshire’s waste and recycling centre booking system and have it instead decided by all county councillors has failed.

At its October 5 meeting, Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet backed plans to scrap bookings at all six waste and recycling centres and introduce automatic numberplate recognition and resident vehicle registration.

The County Council runs centres at Waterloo in Pembroke Dock, Hermon, St Davids, Winsel in Haverfordwest, Crane Cross near Saundersfoot and Manorowen near Fishguard.

The current booking system was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Presenting the report, Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet member for residents’ services, Cllr Rhys Sinnett called the plan “a significant and much-needed modernisation of services”.

The County Council revealed that changes would be introduced in two phases.

The first phase would cover Waterloo, Hermon and St Davids, followed by the other three sites operated by the Local Authority.

The plan is expected to cost £340,000 in capital spending and £67,000 a year to run, with a contingency of up to £1.2m also approved.

The report said the fully integrated system would take at least 12 months to introduce.

The council’s services overview and scrutiny committee heard the call-in at an extraordinary meeting on October 16.

Independent Group leader Cllr Anji Tinley made the call-in, backed by her fellow group members Cllr Vanessa Thomas, Cllr Iwan Ward, Cllr Simon Wright, Cllr Delme Harris and Cllr Mike James.

The call-in said it was “not about whether the booking system should stay or go,” but “about how the decision was made”.

It said a moratorium on non-essential spending had been introduced in September, while the proposals would cost £67,000 a year to run, with contingency of up to £1.2m.

Speaking on behalf of Cllr Tinley at the meeting, Cllr Iwan Ward described the £1.2m figure as “a blank cheque”.

The call-in also raised other concerns including there not being “a Data Protection Impact Assessment, which UK GDPR requires before systematic monitoring of the public”.

Cllr Sinnett said the project’s capital funding would come from existing reserves, placing no extra direct burden on taxpayers.

Pembrokeshire Council’s chief executive Will Bramble said the £1.2m covered potential worst-case costs in the later phase, adding: “I genuinely believe we won’t need that money.”

A call was made by Cllr Rhys Jordan for the Cabinet decision to be upheld after the reassurances the £1.2m was a “worst-case scenario rather than what it’s going to cost”.

Cllr Ward proposed sending the decision to the full council, saying: “The amount of money we’re looking at, all councillors should have a say; not just the councillors in this room and Cabinet.”

The motion to uphold the decision passed by six votes to four, with one abstention, meaning that the Cabinet decision stands.

Planning permission has also been granted for a reuse shop at Waterloo, where recovered furniture, household goods and tools will be made available for public reuse.