The results are in and it looks like the booking system at Lifford Lane Recycling Centre (aka Lifford Lane Tip) has mainly been a success. There were lots of calls for more slots, although quite a few people seemed to understand this was due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There were over 500 responses to the survey and responses came from across South Birmingham, including B12, B13, B14, B28, B29, B30, B31, B32 and B38. I sent the survey out to a number of local councillors for south Birmingham wards, including Stirchley, Kings Norton, Northfield, Selly Park, Kings Heath and Moseley and a bunch of them shared it. It was also featured on BrumHour too.
The majority of responses felt that the changes to the booking system that required people to book, rather than turn up and wait was positive and that they found the system easy to use. There were a number of responses that requested more availability at Lifford Lane, with some frustration over the lack of slots and the desire to go more regularly than the current system allowed. However there was a general understanding that the spacing between cars once inside the centre was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few responses pointed towards technical improvements to the system, such as allowing visitors to the website to see availability before entering personal details. However most people preferred the booking system overall and praised the reduction in congestion that it had created.
On the whole, from the responses to the questionnaire, residents are happy with the new system and with some tweaks, would prefer for it to continue rather than go back to the old system.
If you want to read the breakdown of the questions and all the comments, they’re all on the Lifford Lane Tip survey report here. Please excuse any typos in it; I put it together rather quickly after the local councillor asked if she could take it to a meeting the next day.