Thousands say "don't dump the dump" (From The Northern Echo)

Thousands say "don't dump the dump"

5:09pm Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Consett News

A COUNCIL is being urged to rethink its tip closure programme after thousands of residents signed a petition to save a local dump. Broomsdene Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Leadgate, near Consett, is among six of 15 facilities across County Durham facing the axe as Durham County Council cuts spending.

More than 5,600 people in the Leadgate area signed the petition, started by local Derwentside Independent councillors Watts Stelling and Alan Shield, which is above the number needed to trigger a debate of the issue by the full council before the Labour-run authority’s cabinet takes the final decision.

The councillors hope that the council’s leadership and senior officers will look again at the business plan on which the proposed closure programme is based.

The closure of Broomsdene, along with Hett Hills at Chester-le-Street, would leave the recycling centre at Annfield Plain, which is also a council depot, as the only facility for 160,000 people in the north of the county.

"We want the county to look at all six that they are proposing to close,’’ said Coun Stelling.

"They are there for a very important reason.

"If we don’t collect the rubbish, fly tipping will absolutely go through the roof.

"It cost £1.2m last year and it is getting out of hand.

"North Durham is a rural area and there will be 160,000 people going to one tip at Annfield Plain. They are having a laugh, aren’t they?"

Coun Shields said: "They aren’t looking at the indirect costs, which will increase significantly, if the programme goes ahead.

"What we are asking for is a review of the business plan.

"We are not saying savings can’t be made but we are saying recycling is high on the agenda "We will be asking the council to debate it on the 21st of March and reconsider all aspects of the closure programme.

"It will be environmentally-damaging if the programme goes ahead in its entirety."

Terry Collins, the council’s corporate director for neighbourhood services, said: "No decisions have yet been made on the future of household waste recycling centres.

"We are currently looking at the feedback received during the consultation and will consider the petition as part of this process."