Kent waste centres face closure to save costs
BBC- Kent County Council is considering plans to close up to four household waste sites to save money
- The authority says it needs to save £55m or risk bankruptcy
- Dartford Borough Council's leader has called the plans "not very green"
Four waste centres in Kent are facing closure as the county council seeks to save money.
Recycling centres in Dartford, Faversham, Maidstone and at Richborough near Sandwich would all shut permanently under one option.
Other plans include shutting three sites and reducing hours at 10 others, as part of £55m worth of savings.
The leader of Dartford Borough Council has started a petition to save the site in his district.
The council said the costs for its services has risen by £200m.
Susan Carey, Kent County Council's cabinet member for environment, said the savings have to be made to ensure the authority's financial survival.
She said: "If somebody's got a better way of making the savings, I'm very open to talking about that, but we really have to make those savings otherwise there won't be any services. We'll have gone bankrupt."
Dartford Borough Council leader Jeremy Kite has more than 1,300 signatures on his petition to keep the Dartford site open.
He said: "If this were to close, the people who use it would face a very long journey right across the borough to Gravesend.
"That's not very green, to put them on the roads. They're some of the most congested in the country."
The proposals are to be considered by the county council's environment and transport cabinet committee on 23 May.
Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].