Dab & Dump

As fewer and fewer people are carrying cash, we have been exploring ways to reduce our reliance on coin operation at our visitor sites. Electronic payment means fewer breakdowns from jammed coins and no bank charges for paying-in coinage. This summer the two Chemical Disposal Points (CDP) in North Harris have gone contactless.

Urgha Aire CDP

Way back in 2017 we installed dump points to allow self-contained campervans and motorhomes to empty their toilet cassettes. Before then, there was only one service point at the Leverburgh ferry port and that was regularly out of service. The Urgha and Huisinis installations were partly in response to complaints from the community that waste was being dumped on the estate inappropriately. The CDP at Huisinis Gateway serves those visiting the beach. The Urgha Aire CDP has been especially well received due to its close proximity to the ferry. Vans routinely call at the site just to use the services before they depart the island. 

Contactless payment module

After a few years of coin-only operation, the time had come to go contactless, however contactless CDP units are not available off the shelf. We have worked with Leisure Controls International to come up with a solution that integrates with our existing online payment set up. The administration required in setting up the banking around a contactless payment terminal is not insubstantial. LCI created a terminal with Vianet as the payment processor. NHT already has Vianet units on the vending machines at Huisinis -so all the banking was in place to make the swap from coin to card easy.

Urgha Aire - happy campers

Last year, the Urgha CDP was used over 800 times. May and June are the busy months with September following in third place. These popular services are provided on behalf of the community to help manage the summer visitors and encourage them to act responsibly on our land.