By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire should be getting more household waste recycling centres rather be facing a plan to cut the numbers, a councillor has said.
A county council committee found many of the area’s 12 centres are too cramped and congested, and recommends they should be consolidated into purpose-built ‘supersites’.
However, some are concerned that having to drive further will put residents off recycling.
Nearly 400 people have signed a petition set up by the Independent Alliance group of councillors opposing the idea .
Councillor Francis Purdue-Horan (Ind) said something needs to change with the centres, but ‘supersites’ might not be the right approach.
“My preference would be to see more sites. We have a growing population and there is growing demand,” he said.
“Since the centre at Langar closed years ago, the whole of Rushcliffe has had to use the West Bridgford one, which isn’t a large site.
“It leads to crazy situations with queues of traffic at Bank Holidays. It can’t cope.
“We want to make it easier for people to recycle and keep centres local.
“The county council seems to be set on a strategy of reducing current recycling sites with ‘supercentres’. This could mean people have to make significant journeys in their cars.”
The cross-party review began in 2022 after concerns some of the centres weren’t “fit for purpose”.
The group behind it has said changes would have “minimal operational impact”, and would still leave 97 per cent of residents within a 20-minute drive of a site.
Nottinghamshire County Council says it’s “early days” for the recommendation, and more detailed work would be put in before formal proposals are made.
Councillor Neil Clarke (Con), cabinet member for the environment and transport, said: “One of problems is some sites have a lot of queuing and we need to look at the most efficient way of operating on site.
“Any petition that gets submitted will be looked at by the council.
“We will be seeing where sites can be improved and if there’s a case for supersites to improve the operations and make sites better for public use.
“Hopefully the public won’t have to queue long before entering the sites.”
No locations have been chosen for the ‘supersites’ yet, although there are a range of council-owned sites available.
It’s claimed the changes could save up to £1.7m per year.
Mark Walker, the council’s Interim Service Director for Place and Communities, said: “The county council’s Place Select Committee, made up of representatives from all political groups on the council, recently undertook a scrutiny review of Nottinghamshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centre network to make recommendations on how to make the service more efficient, effective and sustainable for the future.
“A number of recommendations were made by the Committee’s Task and Finish Group that undertook the review. These recommendations were all approved by the Place Select Committee. These recommendations will now be considered by the council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, and Cabinet.
“It is very early days with regards to any future design of the Household Waste Recycling Centre network and no decisions have been made by the Council regarding it. Should the Council wish to follow the recommendations of Place Select Committee, much more detailed work would need to be undertaken before any network changes could be considered.”
The petition will be presented to a Nottinghamshire County full council meeting next month.
