Re-cycling centres under threat

Essex County Council is threatening the closure of up to six re-cycling civic amenity centres in the county with the sites in Ingatestone, Ongar, Coxtie Green Road , Pilgrims Hatch, possible areas for closure.

Cllr Vicky Davies asks:

"Will unmanned re-cycle sites in the Borough such as Kelvedon Hatch be next on the list for review?

"My ward colleagues Barry Aspinell, David Kendall and I strongly oppose the posible closure of the Coxtie Green Civic amenity site in Pilgrims Hatch. This site is extremely busy and provides an invaluable service to the residents of Brentwood.

"What message is being sent out to residents when the Council is actively encouraging a greener environment and increased re -cycling levels to then put civic centres under threat of closure? What a disincentive it would be to recycle and dispose of waste correctly if people are expected to travel many more miles to sites incurring greater travel costs and increasing traffic on the roads. Closure of sites will inevitably cause an increase in fly tipping particularly in the rural lanes this will lead to increased costs to the local council who will be responsible for clearing up the mess.

We call upon Essex County Council to stop closures of Civic Amenity sites as this is a retrograde step and environmentally damaging.