Bristol recycling centre opening hours to be reduced

A city's recycling tips will close two days a week and street-cleaning rounds are being cut amid a funding crisis.

Bristol Waste needs to plug a £4m gap and is also reducing the work of fly-tip and graffiti removal teams.

The city council, which owns the company, has told the firm it must "live within its means".

The local authority's 2023/24 budget includes higher charges for garden waste collections and new fees for DIY waste.

The local authority cannot increase Bristol Waste's contract in line with inflation, effectively meaning a funding cut, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The company's business plan said: "This has led to some difficult decisions and a significant impact on our plans for the business."

Changes agreed with the council include reducing the household reuse and recycling centres' opening hours from seven to five days a week.

The plan said: "Significant changes to the street cleansing service will be required to 'live within our means'.

"Remodelling frequency of street cleansing will lead to a reduction in the cleansing frequency of semi-urban, residential and industrial areas of the city by up to half.

"This change will have the biggest impact on our city cleanliness and will be the first area for reinvestment when finances allow."

Bristol Waste currently removes more than 6,000 pieces of graffiti and 8,500 fly-tips each year, as well as responding to 6,250 street-cleansing requests.

The new Hartcliffe Way tip, opened last June by mayor Marvin Rees and Broadchurch actor Joe Sims, will reduce its opening hours to five days a week along with the tips at Days Road and Avonmouth.

Bristol City Council's cabinet is expected to sign-off the business plan on 7 March.

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