Three household waste recycling centres which were closed earlier this year could remain permanently shut.
The emergency closure of Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich HWRCs was part of the essential savings measures for this year.
However, the Council is now consulting on proposals to close the three household waste recycling centres permanently.
Another option the Council is considering is replacing the current HWRC site at Alsager with a new one in Congleton, costing somewhere between £6 and 8million.
These options were presented to the environment and communities committee in September last year and were approved for public consultation.
The options, which people are now invited to share their views on, are:
- All HWRCs remain open as they are now.
- Poynton HWRC is closed.
- Bollington HWRC is closed.
- Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton HWRCs are closed.
The council is also consulting on plans to close the centres permanently and whether to close a recycling centre in Alsager and instead have a site in Congleton.
The council is also asking people for their feedback on introducing mobile HWRCs, which some other councils already have and usually consist of staffed collection vehicles that visit public spaces once a month on a rotating schedule.
Feedback is also sought on introducing a booking system, which would manage people's waiting times and the flow of traffic into the sites.
The consultation will close on 16 June 2024 and can be accessed via: cheshireeast.gov.uk/hwrcconsultation.
Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, said: "The council currently runs seven HWRCs across the borough and these provide a variety of services to our residents.
"All sites need major investment to ensure that they are well-equipped and up to modern standards, and this is on top of the significant annual running costs of the sites, which continue to rise.
"Setting the council's medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) for 2024-2028 and agreeing our budget for 2024/25 was extremely challenging, and to protect essential services we must continue to make very difficult decisions about how key services in the borough are delivered.
"This includes HWRCs – any savings not delivered through this service review must be found elsewhere.
"A key aspect of the final recommendation that is developed for HWRCs will be a focus on delivering a service that promotes waste prevention and reduction so that ultimately, less waste ends up at our HWRCs and the impact on the environment is reduced.
"We also have the opportunity to look at how we can make the service more accessible for people who don't drive and for those that live in more rural areas where they are further away from a HWRC."
The final recommendation presented back to the environment and communities committee in autumn this year will consider the outcome of the public consultation, the affordability of the options presented, and up to date site user data. This data includes visitor numbers for each HWRC, and information about where people are travelling from to the different sites.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I don't doubt the necessity, but stop messing around!
It just makes it look like a big political game, and it's more important than that.
Looking forward to the ever growing queues at the few remaining recycling locations: Gatley, Adswood, Macc, Knutsford, all over 7 miles from where I live