By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire County Council has approved plans to bring in a network of new ‘supersite’ household waste centres to replace its smaller tips.
The council says a lack of space means some tips such as West Bridgford can no longer meet demand and cause delays and congestion on nearby roads.
It now wants to close some sites and move to a network of bigger purpose-built centres – but all Nottinghamshire residents should have “no fear” that they will be left without a service close by, leaders say.
Nottinghamshire County Council Cabinet today (July 25) approved cross-party recommendations to move forward with consolidating cramped household waste recycling centres into larger ‘supersites’.
The decision is about a change of direction for waste centre policy, rather than detail, because no new sites have yet been named, nor have any closures been confirmed.
More than 6,000 people have already signed a petition against any closures of smaller tips that may arise in future.
The council currently runs a total of 12 sites around the county. The recommendations make no mention of how many could close, and how many ‘supersites’ could replace them.
The Conservative-led council has promised sites which are no longer fit for service will only be closed once better alternatives are already in place.
Portfolio holder for environment and transport Councillor Neil Clarke (Con) agreed to implement the recommended changes, which had been drawn up by a task group working on the issue.
“The sites need to be fit for the future – there must be improvement to the service,” he said.
“Residents should have no fear there will be a reduction in service. No centre would close unless and until there is an improved alternative open and available.”
The council will now investigate how to deliver the promised changes, with new sites and closures of smaller tips to be confirmed at a later date.
Leader Councillor Ben Bradley (Con) said: “The task group saw for themselves the difference between the gold standard at Newark versus queues and congestion at other smaller places.
“We have to get everywhere up to that gold standard, not leave them on bronze.”
Councillor Jonathan Wheeler (Con) spoke about the dire need for improvement at the West Bridgford tip.
“On Saturday or Sunday morning you don’t dare go near it or you’ll be stuck in queues for hours, blocking the highways,” he said.
“There’s no viable booking system – if someone arrived without a booking, the only option would be to reverse around a blind corner onto the fast highway.
“Getting around the site takes an hour if you’re lucky.
“Hopefully people will be encouraged to recycle more, because the site is so small now that it has to be constantly closed.”
The recycling centres at Kirkby and Mansfield have also been highlighted as other trouble spots which need improvement.
Councillor Keith Girling (Con) said: “When the centre first moved to Newark, many people were dead against the move, saying there would be rats and congestion.
“Now it’s an exemplar of what we want.”
It’s claimed the changes could save up to £1.7m per year while still leaving nearly all people within a 20 minute drive of a tip.
Today’s decision also included a promise that ‘large scale engagement’ with local councils and residents should take place before any detailed changes are confirmed.
The issue was also debated at last week’s full council, when a motion was passed urging leaders to give careful consideration to how for residents would have to travel to new centres.
