Macclesfield Conservative Association is calling for the household waste and recycling centres in Bollington and Poynton to be reopened following their temporary closure in August 2024. The demand comes as Cheshire East Council’s Environment and Communities Committee is due to consider permanent closures of the two sites at its meeting on 26th September 2024.
The Labour and Independent-run council is making a series of cuts to services in Macclesfield constituency, including to libraries and recycling centres. The proposed permanent closures means that two of the three recycling centres in the constituency would close, with only the Macclesfield centre on Gawsworth Road in south Macclesfield remaining open.
Local Conservatives argue that the proposals – set out in the report to be considered by councillors – is fundamentally flawed because the Council failed to adequately and robustly evaluate a mobile recycling service that was put in place to alleviate pressure on the remaining recycling centre. However, it has yet to agree what and how the mobile service would operate in the long term.
The Conservatives also argue that the proposals fail to take into account the environmental damage that will result from thousands of extra vehicle journeys as residents travel to the one remaining recycling centre, and the impact of this extra traffic on the Flowerpot Junction in Macclesfield.
The junction is already at capacity and planned major road works to improve traffic movement at this busy junction are still on the drawing board.
Dr Chris O’Leary, Cheshire East councillor for Sutton Ward, said:
“The planned closure of these sites is only on the table because the Labour and Independent-run council is massively overspent and on the brink of bankruptcy. The proposals are fundamentally flawed and will do untold damage if they go ahead, not least because flytipping will go up, as it did when the Congleton recycling centre was closed.”
“We call on Labour and the Independents to think again about these proposals, which will not only affect our villages and rural communities but will also add to traffic congestion going through Macclesfield.”
The decision paper on Thursday also recommends closure of the Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Middlewich, leaving just four HWRC’s to serve the whole of Cheshire East.
Those remaining will be in Macclesfield, Knutsford, Crewe and Alsager. An additional option is also being considered for future planning; to close the Alsager site in due course to pay for a new (as yet undisclosed) site in Congleton. There is currently no timescale provided for this option.
