Kent residents will be allowed to use Medway’s household waste and recycling centres in Capstone, Cuxton and Gillingham, free of charge for the next 18 months.

Cllr Andy Stamp, Councillor for Gillingham North and Medway Labour Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture said, ‘Medway’s three recycling centres are now the only sites in the county offering a totally free service. It’s therefore a foregone conclusion that Kent residents will choose to use Medway’s centres in order to avoid charges.

‘Not only are Medway residents paying more via their Council Tax this year, but they are now also paying for Kent residents to use our tips free of charge.

‘We’re likely to see longer queues at our sites due to the increased footfall, and the need for Medway Council to check ID and record the postcode of each individual using the site.

‘The complete lack of transparency from the Conservative administration only adds to suspicions that this is a bad deal for Medway residents. The administration are unwilling to reveal the nature of the deal they have made with Kent County Council after their initial U-turn, but it has been revealed that the deal with KCC is for a minimum of 12 months, with no break clauses in case things go catastrophically wrong.

‘We saw this lack of foresight with the contract Medway Council had with MCG, which resulted in Medway residents paying twice for CCTV and school governor services, but the administration seems to have learned nothing from their mistakes.’

Cllr Vince Maple, Councillor for Chatham Central and Leader of the Labour Group on Medway Council said, ‘The lack of transparency the Conservative administration has shown on this is truly disappointing, especially since we’ve just discovered that on the current trajectory Medway is set to run out of budget reserves in the next four years.

‘Medway residents need assurances that this will not negatively impact their ability to use services as well as council funds.’