'Very early days' for future of Nottinghamshire tips amid potential closures

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling for Nottinghamshire tips to be saved after documents revealed that nine of them could shut in the coming years. Concerns have been raised that fly-tipping could go "through the roof" if plans go ahead, though council says it is "very early days" in terms of the future of the sites.

Nottinghamshire County Council first carried out an independent review of its recycling centres in 2022 and a group at the council then went through a series of scenarios for the future of Nottinghamshire's tips. The council has said that "commercial sensitivity issues" mean it cannot be more specific about plans at this stage, but a presentation by the authority recently showed which tips could go.

Those potentially under threat include sites in Beeston, Hucknall, Kirkby and Mansfield. A petition was soon launched and has now attracted nearly 1,500 signatures.

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Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of the Independent Alliance opposition group at County Hall, said: "More and more residents have been in touch with us with concerns about the future of their recycling centres. They agree with independent councillors that the idea is rubbish.

"The Conservatives who run the county council couldn't wait to close our tips at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns and the sad reality is that fly-tipping went through the roof. This is a blatant attempt to save money and we will not put up with this. We want people to continue to sign our petition and send a clear message to the Tories that they cannot get with this."

Councillor Steve Carr, an independent county councillor for Bramcote and Beeston North said: "It's amazing to think that less than a month ago, the Tories who run Nottinghamshire County Council were denying there was any plans at all to close any recycling centres in our County. Now, they freely admit that they want to reduce our tips from 12 to 3.

"They want to create 'supersites' - which will reduce our tips. This puts all our smaller recycling centres at risk. This will lead to longer car journeys - meaning your round trip to the tip could be at least an hour longer. Like it or not, this will lead to more fly-tipping and it will not be good for our environment."

Mark Walker, Interim Service Director for Place and Communities, said: "The county council's place select committee, made up of representatives from all political groups on the council, recently undertook a scrutiny review of Nottinghamshire's household waste recycling centre network to make recommendations on how to make the service more efficient, effective and sustainable for the future.

"A number of recommendations were made by the committee's task and finish group that undertook the review. These recommendations were all approved by the place select committee. These recommendations will now be considered by the council's cabinet member for transport and environment and cabinet.

"It is very early days with regards to any future design of the household waste recycling centre network and no decisions have been made by the council regarding it. Should the council wish to follow the recommendations of place select committee, much more detailed work and a full public consultation would need to be undertaken before any network changes could be considered."