Queensbury tip closure petition tops 5,000-name mark

Campaigners say closing the Ford Hill waste recycling centre would be counterproductive

Campaigners trying to save a council tip in Bradford will hand in a 5,000-name petition to officials later.

The council plans to shut the recycling centre at Ford Hill, Queensbury as part of a cuts to avoid having to effectively declare itself bankrupt.

The council says government funding cuts have forced it to axe services.

The closure of the Queensbury waste site along with two others, Golden Butts in Ilkley and Sugden End in Cross Roads, would save about £1m a year.

However, people who use the three centres fear closing them could turn rural areas of the Bradford district into fly-tipping hotspots.

An online petition against the Queensbury closure plan now has more than 4,000 signatures and a further 500-plus paper signatures have been sent to the council, according to campaigners.

In addition, 400 or so will be delivered by hand at the council's monthly meeting at Bradford City Hall on Tuesday night.

Campaigner Judy Wetherell said farmers were particularly worried about a possible increase in fly-tipping

Judy Wetherell is among the campaigners who will present the petition to decision-makers at Bradford City Hall on Tuesday night.

She said business owners and farmers were particularly worried about the impact of closing the tip.

"There's a lot of greenbelt land in the area. You just have to drive around through Thornton, Clayton Heights, Queensbury to see the amount of fly tipping that goes around.

"The council clears up fly tipping that's in local lanes and byways, but they don't on farmland and private property. Those farmers and private businesses, they're really, really concerned.

"The biggest concern is that more and more black bags of rubbish will just end up dumped in the lanes.

She said the tip closure plan was counterproductive.

"It defeats the purpose because they are going to have to spend more resources on sending out clean teams to clean up the roads."

Bradford Council, which recently announced £40m of savings over the next three years, is currently running a public consultation on its draft budget proposals for 2024 to 2025.

These also include stripping back services like libraries and leisure centres, closing one children's residential centre, and cutting funding to the culture and voluntary sectors.

'Least-used' facility

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "Like many other local authorities across the country, the council is under an unprecedented level of financial pressure and needs to make significant cuts into the council's budget to make it a financially sustainable organisation."

They said the Ford Hill site was "one of the least-used" of its recycling centres, collecting 9% of the district's total waste tonnage.

"We understand how upsetting this is for local residents," the council added.

"Its inclusion in the list of cuts is not an indication that the council undervalues the facility. On the contrary we know it is a valued service. However, given the strain on council funding nationally, all councils have to consider savings possible across every department."

Since 2011 Bradford Council has made £350m in cuts and savings due to national austerity measures.

The council remains in talks with Ministers about measures to avoid bankruptcy.