Cheshire East Council has agreed to set up a working group to look into the possibility of providing a replacement household waste and recycling centre at Congleton.

Campaigners and ward councillors turned up at Thursday's environment and communities committee meeting to tell members it was a disgrace a town the size of Congleton doesn't have a tip.

Cheshire East said it had no choice but to close the tip last September (2021) because it didn't own the land.

Congleton town councillor Kay Wesley told the committee Congleton is twice as big as five of the seven towns in the borough which will have a centre under the new contract which was being discussed at Thursday's meeting.

"The residents of Congleton are very angry that in the procurement of this new contract [which runs from April 2023] no consideration has been given to their needs whatsoever," she said.

Brereton Parish Council chair Andy Lindsay said the nearest site for his community was 20 minutes away.

He said fly-tipping incidents were up by 43 per cent on the previous year since the Congleton tip had closed.

"Hardly a record to be proud of. A Congleton recycling centre would reverse this, making for a greener outcome," he said.

Congleton town councillor Robert Douglas said the council had got its figures wrong.

"Cheshire East wrongly claimed that a replacement site would cost about £4m. It has been left to us campaigners to prove that the cost is about half that at £2m," he said. "Annual financing costs of a new site is about £125,000.

"In just two years, the precept paid by our residents in Congleton and 10 parishes [affected by the tip closure] has increased by over £2m. This extra precept is enough to pay for 16 new recycling sites."

He added since the Congleton site had closed people were dumping previously recycled items in their bins.

"Not replacing our site has reduced recycling, increased waste and fly-tipping has increased by about 50 per cent," he said.

Congleton CEC councillor Rob Moreton (Ind), speaking as a visiting councillor, asked the committee to set up a working group to identify a site for a new Congleton centre and how to fund it.

"This is the least our residents deserve," he said.

Fellow Congleton councillor Suzie Akers Smith (Ind) also asked for a working group to be established.

"With the additional revenue that we will receive for the council tax of the new developments there should be enough funding for this council to provide a household waste recycling and re-use centre for the residents of Congleton and the surrounding parishes," she said.

During the meeting committee members from both sides – Conservative and Labour/Independent – blamed each other for the Congleton closure and not providing a replacement.

Committee chair Mick Warren (Ind) reminded them and the visitors they were not there to discuss the Congleton site specifically but rather the procurement of the new borough-wide contract.

Head of environmental services Ralph Kemp said under the new contract the existing seven sites will be affordable and additional measures include two proposed re-use shops at Crewe and Macclesfield, greater access to local traders for trade waste, plus mattress recycling.

"We're also introducing automatic number plate recognition and proof of the address checks to encourage fair use and limit the use of sites to Cheshire East residents which, over time, should reduce the input on the sites of the edge of Cheshire East," he said.

Councillors agreed the recommendations which included noting the procurement of the new contract.

They also agreed an amendment that a member advisory panel and working group be set up to look at future household waste and recycling centre provision with particular attention to provision for Congleton and to further look at the scope and remit of what the group should be.

Loud applause rang out from members of the public when the amendment was approved.

A petition to get Congleton a new tip currently has over 1000 signatures.

See Also: Petition launched to get Congleton a new recycling centre 

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