Queensbury tip closure plan sees village targeted again, says resident

The Ford Hill household waste recycling centre in Queensbury is one of three at risk of closure

A village under threat of having its council tip closed is "once again being targeted for losing essential services", a campaigner has said.

Plans to shut the recycling centre at Ford Hill in Queensbury, as well as two other tips as part of council cost-cutting, have been met with anger.

At a meeting on Tuesday, residents handed in petitions and pleaded with Bradford Council to keep them open.

The council said it would consider the petitions ahead of a decision.

The plan comes as part of a cost-saving move to help Bradford Council avoid having to effectively declare itself bankrupt.

The council has argued the tips earmarked for closure are the least used of those in the district, and that even after closures there would still be a tip in each constituency.

Queensbury is proposed to close under the plans, along with Golden Butts in Ilkley and Sugden End in Cross Roads.

Judy Wetherell, who presented the Queensbury tip petition at the meeting of the full council, said the village had already been targeted with the proposed closure of its swimming pool and Victoria Hall.

"Now Queensbury is once again being targeted for an essential service being closed," she said.

"The area already suffers from substantial fly tipping which not only affects road users but also farmers."

'Increased fly tipping'

Independent Queensbury councillor Luke Majkowski pointed out he had recently stood before the council to argue against the closure of Victoria Hall.

He said: "Queensbury is an area the council often forgets about until they need to save money.

"It is poor decisions like closing tips that have led to financial disaster for Bradford.

"Why should the people of Queensbury lose out to bail Bradford Council out?"

Joanne Sugden, who presented the Ilkley tip petition, told the meeting the closure of the Golden Butts site would have a "disastrous effect on the area", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The short and long-term impact will be severely felt through increased fly tipping, increased CO2 emissions and discriminate against people who don't drive but still want to access waste centres."

She said if the tip were to close, it would be a round trip of more than 19 miles to the nearest waste centre. This would lead to an extra 1.75m miles being driven by residents, who would use an extra 270,000 litres of fossil fuel, she said.

Independent Ilkley councillor Anne Hawksworth said residents had little faith that the council would listen to them.

She said: "This petition has come from the heart of Ilkley, from people who are tired of having things done to them rather than having things done for them."

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, executive for healthy people and places, said: "This is not what any of us want - but we have to make savings. Normally this is not a decision any of us would want to contemplate."

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