'Misleading' tip petition 'based on rubbish in more than one way', council says

Nottinghamshire County Council say a petition created by Independent Alliance councillors opposing the potential closure of nine out of the county's twelve recycling plants is "based on rubbish in more ways than one". Independent Alliance Leader Jason Zadrozny handed the petition to new Conservative county council chairman Richard Butler during a meeting.

In April, documents revealed that the County Council was considering replacing local recycling centres in places such as Beeston, Giltbrook, Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Mansfield with "supersites". The Independent Alliance argue that the potential closure is so the council can save money - in the region of £1m per year - and says it will "fight all the way" against the proposition.

The petition, which has been signed by more than 2,700, says: "Closing these popular recycling centres will lead to a rise in fly-tipping which is not environmentally friendly. It will increase journey times for residents who need to dispose of their waste responsibly and sustainably. This means more carbon emissions as people are forced to travel further distances.

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"The closure of these facilities would be a significant setback for our community's efforts towards environmental sustainability and responsible waste management. We must stand against this proposal and fight for the preservation of our local recycling centres."

The council first completed a review into recycling centres in 2022 - but the results of it still haven't been published due to supposed "commercial sensitivity issues", and the recent "supersite" revelations only came from a presentation by the authority. But Councillor Neil Clarke, the council's cabinet member for transport and environment, has blasted the petition, saying it is "misleading".

He said: “Every petition submitted to Nottinghamshire County Council receives a considered reply, and this one presented by Councillor Zadrozny regarding Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) will be no different.

“Unfortunately, the petition created by the Independent Alliance is based on rubbish in more ways than one. No firm proposals or decisions have yet been made about the future of HWRCs in Nottinghamshire, but what I can say is that we certainly won’t be closing any HWRC site unless and until we have a better one available and open to replace it, so the concerns being created by the Independent Alliance are unfounded and designed to create a misleading headline.

“When we are in a position to put forward some firm proposals for the future of our HWRC network, the public will be fully consulted, based on accurate and clear information rather than misleading petitions.”