The reaction to the possible closure of the Craven Arms Household Recycling Centre (HRC) has been fierce. I have not heard one message of support for the closure. The plans are not finalised yet but Shropshire Council seem determined to close two household recycling centres whatever the consequences for residents, the climate and fly-tipping. More than 6,000 people have signed the petition against closure. https://bit.ly/cravenarmsrecyling
We have to be realistic here. We didn’t light the fire spreading through local government finances. It has been burning for a long while and the leadership at Shropshire Council over the last 13 years has made decisions that have made our local situation worse.
To put it bluntly, and at the risk of unpopularity, it hasn’t raised council tax enough to get anywhere near the council’s needs. The comeuppance for that is the emergency programme of cuts which are now going through. I propose to raise extra money from the green bin waste charge and use that for the HRCs. We might also reduce hours if that cuts costs.
There are limited opportunities to challenge the policy to close two HRCs. I didn’t manage to get a motion on the next council so I am taking a question to cabinet instead.
Times are tough and as I said we didn’t light the fire. But the council is engaged in a savage cost cutting exercise reducing services and cutting jobs. We have tough choices to make.
The council is to charge for collecting green waste bins. I have outlined my concerns about that. Opposition to this move is not strong and many people support it. One of my proposals is charge more for green waste collection and use the money to keep all five HRCs open. No one wants to pay more but we have to find money somewhere to keep Craven Arms HRC open. I don’t have access to the books so I can’t judge whether this is feasible.
Another idea from a Lib Dem colleague is to reduce the hours that some HRCs are open keeping one day a week with opening to 7pm.
I think Shropshire Council hasn’t thought this through. We are constrained by the council vote last week on the budget for 2024/25. But there is room for manoeuvre within that budget and we should exploit that to save Craven Arms Household Recycling Centre.
My question to cabinet
The opposition to the closure of two household recycling centres to save £300K a year has been strong. A petition to save the Craven Arms HRC gained more than 5,000 signatures on the day it was launched. In contrast, the opposition to the proposal to charge for green waste collection has not been as strong.
We are a very large county and increasing the distance people have to drive to the HRC will discourage recycling, encourage fly-tipping and go against the council’s ambitions to become net zero.
Could the cabinet ask officers to look again at this proposal and consider other options to achieve the same saving? These might include:
1) Examining increasing the proposed charge for collecting green waste from £52 a year to £60 a year – a measure than could raise £600K a year and cost 15p a week.
2) Examining whether reducing the hours or the days that some HRCs are open would lead to savings that could help keep all five HRCs open.
Fully support you.
I contacted Shropshire Council regarding this closure & the fee for the green garden waste bin. The reply stated that no decision has been made yet, there are a few hurdles to overcome before the decision is made. Personally, I can’t see how the Council would pass up such an easy way to make savings. I pointed out people will be using the black bin to dispose of garden waste, recyclable waste, small electrical items, all sorts of junk. Fly tipping will increase. I don’t see how this helps the image of a so called green Shropshire Concil. I believe my points fell on deaf ears.
Thanks. They say no decision has been made but in reality it has unless we can turn it around in the next couple of weeks. Please promote the petition. We need more signatures before I go to cabinet.
DONT CLOSE THE CRAVEN ARMS WASTE CENTRE !!! THINK OF THE EXTRA DIESEL AND PETROL THAT LOCALS WILL USE TRAVELLING TO DISTANT TIPS. IT WILL WIPE OUT ANY BENEFITS FROM PEOPLES ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINTS. I THOUGHT SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL ADVOCATED POLICIES THAT WERE MEANT TO CONTRIBUTE ( ALBEIT MAYBE ONLY A SMALL WAY BUT IF EVERYBODY TRIES TO BE RESPONSIBLE HUMAN RACE MAY HAVE A CHANCE RIGHT ? ) TO PRESERVING OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET ???
Andy- My suggestion would be to pay PWC less money and the saving will fund keeping this site open -in fact you have to ask why the council is paying PWC anything as the job of the council leadership is to do the work they are paying PWC to do -so a suggestion- pay PWC and get rid of the leaders in the council who shoudl be doing the work PWC are doing or keep the leadership and don’t pay PWC- why are we paying for it twice? If the issue is skills then it would look as if we have a conservative leadership with no skills so they should resign en mass and save us the tax payer their salaries and costs.
Well said.
Too many snouts in the trough.
Seems savings can be made as long as it doesn’t effect their safe location in Shrewsbury .
Folks aren’t going to drive to Bridgenorth from Ludlow and surroundings.
Maybe we just dump stuff outside the gates at Craven Arms if it is closed. Take a leaf out of the Farmer’s book 😃
It looks as though a time to react in a more direct way may be coming.
That is a great idea. I would be up for that!
This requires action on our behalf, the HRC at Craven Arms is a necessity not a luxury item like a shopping centre.
Why don’t they do what so many other councils are doing and raise the rates for second homeowners? That would help wouldn’t it?
The council is doing this from April 2025, the earliest legal date.