Since the news broke a week ago that the Craven Arms Household Recycling Centre is on a short, very short, list for closure, residents have been making their views known across social media.
Yesterday, Ludlow unitary councillors met with Chris Naylor the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Shropshire at the Craven Arms Household Recycling Centre yesterday evening to promote a resident’s petition. If you haven’t signed it, please sign and tell everyone you know. https://bit.ly/cravenarmsrecyling
I have space for only one comment to illustrate the strength of reaction:
“So, all those old paint tins, the broken saucepan, defunct batteries and your ex’s sweater, chuck it all in the black bin. Hang on. You forgot the tetra-packs, the electronics, the white goods, the wood, the rubble, the non-ferrous metal, the light bulbs and the hard plastic that can’t go in the kerbside wheely bin.”
There have been hundreds more messages like this.
While visiting Craven Arms yesterday, Chris Naylor said:
“We can’t lose this facility. It is unthinkable to leave south west Shropshire without a recycling facility. So much cannot be collected from the kerbside.
“One quarter of households in Ludlow alone do not have access to a car or van. How do they dispose of waste that can’t be put in the black bin?
“Even those households with a car fill face a long journey to Bridgnorth, if that stays open, or Battlefield in Shrewsbury. I fear that some people will simply dump their waste around our beautiful landscape.
“We need Shropshire Council to look at its budget again and find different ways of saving money. Reducing opening hours for household recycling centres example.
“What we don’t want to see is an increase in fly-tipping. We want to remain committed to tackling the climate emergency. Maxing recycling is essential if we are to get to zero carbon.
“I urge everyone to sign the petition.”
Dear Mr Nellins,
As you are the portfolio holder for waste and recycling at Shropshire Council, perhaps you can provide me with some advice on a few issues.
Firstly, I am planning to replace a storage heater. It is very old and I am not sure if it contains asbestos or not. If I do this after the Craven Arms recycling centre has closed down, do you think it is more economical for me to drive from my home near Clun to Bridgnorth or Shrewsbury to recycle it, or maybe drive across the border and take it to a recycling centre in Powys or Herefordshire (I may have to lie about my postcode if there is a booking system), or maybe just drive out one night and dump it in a lay-by. The latter is by far the easiest solution and involves less time in my car with asbestos dust potentially circulating.
Secondly, I drink a lot of orange juice and soy milk, most of which comesin tetra packs which I accumulate and take to Craven Arms when passing. Obviously I can take one batch to Bridgnorth or Shrewsbury, or Powys, or Herefordshire if they accept them, or to a nearby lay-by when I dispose of my storage heater, but what do I do with future batches?
Thirdly, I also accumulate dead lightbulbs, sundry, electronic and electrical waste (cables et cetera), garden rubble, occasional pieces of nonferrous metal and, quite often, hard plastic that isn’t suitable for kerbside collection. If I leave these materials in a lay-by, making sure of course that it can’t be traced back to me, does Shropshire Council have the resources to constantly tour the countryside looking for deposits of this nature?
Finally, have you ever encountered a council decision that is so utterly stupid that you have considered resigning?
I look forward to your reply with great interest.
Yours sincerely
Patrick Cosgrove
Well House
Chapel Lawn
Bucknell
Shropshire
SY7 0BW
T: 01547 530347
M: 07950 648365
E: pccosgrove@icloud.
Well said, Patrick
There are so many in S. Shrops on the same page as you. It is ill-conceived madness, as the clear-up costs will far outweigh the running costs, and, with no recycled material values to offset them.
The Council will spend more on clearing up fly-tipping than they save. Or the fly-tipping will just be there. Just have a trip down to the S.Wales Valleys for a vision of how the countryside will look.
Shropshire Council has a 27 year PFI contract with Veolia which includes the running of the Craven Arms site.
What costs are being incurred in breaking elements of this contract?
Furthermore the WEEE Regulations were not in place when this contract was negotiated.
I calculate that the additional revenue generated by the selling of the ‘evidence’ of the WEEE recycling from Shropshire (yes a free market exists in selling evidence of recycling – in addition to the recyclate value) is about £1.6 million since the WEEE Regulations were introduced.
Has SC sought to introduce this factor into any of its negotiations with Veolia? If not -why not – it could save Craven Arms site from closure.