Recycling site to close despite objections

Plans to close a community recycling centre in Surrey have been approved, despite 93% of consultation respondents being against them.

Surrey County Council (SCC) said the facility at Swift Lane in Bagshot is hard to get to, outdated, too small to be upgraded and has been attracting anti-social behaviour.

Two petitions against the closure received more than 2,000 signatures ahead of the decision on Tuesday.

People who use Bagshot Community Recycling Centre, which has about 920 visits a week, have been told to use alternative facilities in Camberley, Lyne or Woking.

The council said there was ongoing vandalism, fly tipping and unlawful entry at the site.

Staff had also been threatened by some users who tried to bring unacceptable materials to the site, the council added.

A public consultation on the closure was carried out between 16 September and 11 October, and 1,079 responses were received.

Although 93% of people who took part were against the closure, 76% said they would use the alternative sites.

The council said reasons for the objections included the inconvenience of travelling to another site, a fear there would be increased queues at other sites and the potential jump in local fly tipping.

Despite this, SCC said its experience shows that previous changes to sites, including reduced opening hours and days, have not resulted in more fly tipping incidents.

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