Backwell Recycling Centre set to close as council tackles budget gap

Plans to close a recycling centre have been approved as part of a pack of measures to tackle a council's budget gap of £17m.

North Somerset Council's executive agreed to close Backwell Recycling Centre, which would save the council £300,000.

The total package of cuts and savings are expected to reduce the £17m funding gap for 2023/24 to £4.1m.

The measures will still need to be approved as part of next year's budget.

Closing the recycling centre is just one measure, which the council said will allow it to focus on protecting help for the vulnerable.

It is also planning to cut about 50 council jobs, with people moved into other positions if possible, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The plans to close the recycling centre will mean people will have to take their recycling to Weston-super-Mare or Portishead instead.

Executive member for corporate services, Ash Cartman, said: "It's five minutes extra in a car or it's less people in children's centres or social care.

"That's the choice we are grappling with."

Council leader Steve Bridger added: "We don't want to be doing it but there's got to be some perspective that its not the end of the world."

He added: "If three [centres] becomes two, we will still have one of the best recycling rates in the country and the best in the South West."

The budget cuts, discussed on Wednesday, would also see the cost of collecting garden waste go up and Churchill Sports Centre's closure made permanent among many other measures.

In total the council is aiming to reduce its spending by 10% in order to balance its budget.

The plans are not immediately coming into effect and consultations will be held on the proposals.

Even with the planned cuts, the council still has to identify an additional £4.1m of savings.

Mr Bridger said they were waiting for a further funding announcement from the government, expected late in December, before re-evaluating what else could be cut.

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