Some Isle of Man residents will now have to bring a form of ID with them when they use the tip.
Bosses at the Northern Civic Amenity Site (NCAS) on Bride Road introduced the new identification measures just a day after Bride Commissioners revealed it was pulling out of the facility over a dispute around costs.
In a statement issued online on Friday, a spokesperson for the NCAS said it is hoped that the new ID restriction will be ‘short-lived’.
The statement read: ‘It is with the deepest regret that we have to ask customers that wish to use the Northern Civic Amenity Site to bring with them some form of identification to prove their residency in Ballaugh, Lezayre, Garff, Andreas, Jurby and Ramsey.
‘A utility bill of some sort within the last 3 months would be an ideal item.
‘We would ask that members of the public are respectful to the site staff that are asking for this identification.
‘It is not their fault that we are in this position, and they are a victim of this more so than some others.’ The board that runs the Western Civic Amenity Site (WCAS) in St John’s issued a similar statement on Friday which said that it would not be allowing people outside the western catchment area to use the facilities, a decision they say was made to ‘protect’ its residents.
However, the statement did not suggest that any identification restriction would be brought-in at the site.
A spokesperson for the board said it hoped that ‘Bride Commissioners and Bride residents will respect our situation and not use the WCAS site.’
A civic amenity site, similar to a household waste recycling centre, is a facility where the public can dispose of and recycle household waste.
There are four such sites located on the Isle of Man - northern, southern, western and eastern.
The NCAS is run by a joint committee made up of representatives from the Commissioners while the facility as a whole is operated by Ramsey Commissioners.
The cost for the local authority is based on the ratable value of the area – which Bride is ‘unhappy’ with.
In the wake of Bride’s withdrawal from the scheme, the NCAS joint committee said it has given notice to the Department of Infrastructure to ‘terminate’ deal to run the site.
Karl Brew, chairman of the Northern Civic Amenity Site Joint Committee, said: ‘As a committee we are aware of Bride’s frustration over their level of payment based on rateable contribution.
‘Sadly, the process laid out in the 2017 agreement for the resolution of disputes has not resolved Bride’s view and they advised the Committee verbally they (Bride) were no longer using, paying, or working with the site.
‘With the withdrawal of Bride, the committee will be considering their options. Whilst we do, we would hope Bride will see the best outcome is to remain and contribute to site to allow their rate payers access.
‘However, we are still able to manage the site for the next financial year and the Department for Infrastructure are aware, one consideration is to remove the NCAS Joint Committee from the site and close.’
Speaking to the BBC Local Democracy Service, Douglas Central MHK and former Infrastructure Minister Chris Thomas said the situation was ‘daft’.
He said: ‘I think it’s probably ambiguous what happens next.
‘My big message would be that this is daft.
‘We’ve got to find a way of having a national policy on this and a fair way of paying for recycling and reuse, and a fair policy for charging at the energy for waste plant because this is all mixed up in it.’
Additional reporting by Emma Draper