Three tips could close permanently - council

Three sites have been closed on a temporary basis but now could shut for good

Three recycling centres in Cheshire which have been temporarily closed could shut for good and another site could be replaced by one in a different town.

Sites in Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton were closed on an emergency basis by Cheshire East Council, ahead of a review into recycling centres across the borough.

The council is now consulting on plans to close the centres permanently and whether to close a recycling centre in Alsager and instead have a site in Congleton.

Other ideas include mobile tips and introducing a booking system to use the sites.

The council is asking for people’s views on options for the future of its household waste recycling centres.

It gives four options:

• Keep all existing sites

• Close the site in Poynton

• Close the site in Bollington

• Close sites in Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton

Thousands of people previously signed a petition against the closure of the sites.

Cheshire East Council is also asking for views on the Alsager proposal. The previous Congleton recycling centre closed in 2021.

In the consultation, it said a new site in Congleton could cost between £6m and £8m.

Paying for this option is not included in this year’s budget, so funding would need to be found.

A proposal to close a site in Alsager and replace it with one in Congleton is being consulted on

According to council figures published as part of the consultation, the busiest household waste recycling centre (HWRC) is in Macclesfield, with 21% of total users.

Crewe is second with 20.2% with Alsager in third with 16.2% and Knutsford after that with 16%.

Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich receive the lowest user numbers with less than 10% at each site, according to the data from August 2022.

Mick Warren, chair of the council’s environment and communities committee, said all the sites needed major investment on top of the annual running costs.

He added the council must “continue to make very difficult decisions about how key services in the borough are delivered”.

“This includes HWRCs – any savings not delivered through this service review must be found elsewhere,” he said.

The consultation is open until 16 June.