Anger as Bid to Save Buckden Tip is Rejected (South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats)

South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats <info@secambslibdems.org.uk>

Anger as Bid to Save Buckden Tip is Rejected

November 1, 2007 6:57 PM

The County Council has rejected the bid to save the Buckden Recycling Centre. Speaking at the County Council in Cambridge yesterday (Tuesday), Brampton Parish Council Chairman Mike Shellens asked for contract negotiations with Waste Recycling Group to be re-opened. He backed up his request with a petition of over 4,300 signatures. His request was firmly rejected by the Councillor responsible for the Environment, Roy Pegram. Councillor Pegram said that it would be too expensive to keep the Recycling Centre open and that Huntingdonshire has more recycling centres than it needs.

Mike Shellens reacted angrily, saying that all he was asking was for the County Council and the owners of the centre to get together to see if a new contract could be negotiated.

'This is a nonsense', he said. ' This facility is very popular and receives over 130,000 visits in a year'.

The 4,300 petition signatories come from all over West Huntingdonshire. The petition calls on the County Council and Waste Recycling Group to try to find a way forward that will keep the tip open for domestic users.

From November of 2008, those wishing to recycle items will have to go up to Alconbury where the site is an old-fashioned one with skips and steps.

'This is very inconvenient for older and disabled people' , said Mike Shellens. 'Roy Pegram's statement that they will provide extra staff to help those who need it only increases the cost at Alconbury and in any case, the Alconbury site will not be big enough to meet the demand.'

The extra mileage of taking recyclable material up to Alconbury from the Huntingdon conurbation will be in excess of a million miles a year, wasting people's time, adding to traffic congestion, wasting petrol and pumping unnecessary extra tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. 'The County Council pays lip service to tackling climate change but then takes decisions that will make matters worse,' said Mike Shellens.

Brampton Lib Dem Councillor Peter Downes said he was appalled at the dismissive and unhelpful attitude shown by the ruling Tory administration.

'They might at least have said they would look into it. They have shut their minds to finding an acceptable way forward. The old contract may have been expensive but that expires in October 2008. We are asking both sides to negotiate a new agreement. If they don't even try, we will have lost a much-valued facility'.'

Peter Downes stressed that he is not ready to give up yet. He will be continuing to collect signatures and gather support. He intends to raise the matter again during the forthcoming round of Council meetings to set next year's budget.