All of Shropshire’s five recycling centres are set to remain open after a council u-turn on cost-cutting closure plans - but residents will soon need a permit to use them.

A proposal to close at least two of the authority’s five recycling centres had been met with a cool response from residents – and following a public consultation which attracted over 18,000 responses the council now says all five sites will remain open.

The re-working of the authority’s cost-saving plans will see each centre close for one day per week, with a separate scheme to introduce a booking system for recycling centre visits set to complete the shake-up of county waste services.

The changes are expected to raise around £500,000 for council coffers, as a result of reduced staffing costs and a reduction in waste processing as a result of the new booking system.

Shropshire Council says the move is part of a drive to find £62 million worth of cost cuts in order to balance the books for this year, with the authority under increasing pressure to find savings.

 

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“We’ve listened to those [consultation] responses and we’ve tried to balance out the best we can,” said Ian Nellins, waste and recycling portfolio holder for Shropshire Council.

“The results of that has shown us that… we can keep all five of our household recycling centres open, albeit they will all close one day a week.

“But all recycling centres, all five across Shropshire Council area, will remain open with the exception that they will close one day per week to make a little bit of a saving.”

The council says a decision on which day of the week each recycling centre will close will be taken after consulting with the council’s waste contractor Veolia.

Meanwhile residents will be required to make a booking before attending recycling centres in a move the council says is designed to increase efficiency at the five sites and reduce the amount of waste brought in from outside the county.

“One of the other considerations we had, and we asked in the consultation, was about introducing permits,” added Councillor Nellins.

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“This system works really well across other local authorities and we’re going to introduce a permit system where people will have to book a slot to come to the household recycling centres.

“It may take residents a little while to get used to it, but it is efficient.

“It’ll allow them more time and more assistance at the household recycling centres and it will also help us identify if people are using household recycling centres from out of the Shropshire Council area.”

Earlier this year a petition to ‘save’ Craven Arms recycling centre hit nearly 9,000 signatures with similar campaigns organised in Bridgnorth, Oswestry and Whitchurch.

The authority is also hoping to raise around £4 million through charging for green waste collections, which it says would cost £56 per year for each household.