Residents oppose potential closure of tip

Campaigners are opposing the potential closure of a tip in Glossop, which they claim would lead to an "influx" in fly-tipping in the area.

Derbyshire County Council has launched a consultation into the closure of its Household Recycling Centre on Melandra Road as it said it was not used as much as its other waste sites and the closure would save £360,000 a year.

Residents said the next nearest waste site at Buxton was too far away and two petitions opposing the move have a combined total of more than 4,000 signatures.

Councillor Carol Wood, the council's cabinet member for net zero and environment, said a final decision had not yet been made and the council wanted to hear people's views.

One petition was set up by Linda Rundle, 72, whose partner has amyloidosis, a rare condition which can cause chronic fatigue.

She said: "The thought of travelling any length and leaving him [to go to Buxton] is not practical for me, it is not something I could do.

"I have got a friend who is 78 who was talking to me today about her concerns because of the cost.

"Although she has a car she has recently had a physical injury that means she can't travel too far and she is worried about the cost of taking things."

Rundle said she regularly took cardboard to the waste site and believed it was "ludicrous" to think its closure would not lead to an increase in fly-tipping.

She said her petition which was submitted to the council before Christmas had 2,033 signatures on it.

High Peak MP Jon Pearce has the other petition which has more than 2,000 signatures on it and is still open.

Kerry Bannister has recently moved from Charlesworth to Glossop and said she had been using the facility regularly as she has been renovating her home.

She said its potential closure would have a "massive effect" because she was using it twice a month to discard items such as empty paint tins.

"Moving to this area would not have been as easy if we had to go over to Buxton -that is at least a 90 minute trip - closing the tip would be catastrophic for the area," Bannister added.

Jo Gregory, the founder of the Hummingbird Project in Surrey Street, which offers families free clothing and baby goods, said she was worried the quality of donations will dip if the tip shuts.

She said: "Our fear is that by closing an essential public service like this in Glossop it is going to put a burden on charities like ours because people are going to try and offload some of the stuff they would take to the tip on us."

Gregory added that if the site closed it would lead to an "influx" in fly-tipping in the area.

Councillor Carol Wood said: "Our household waste recycling centres are provided for Derbyshire residents to dispose of household waste only.

"Making sure this council is as efficient as it can be and that every pound of council tax-payers' money is accounted for and spent wisely is our top priority.

"The Glossop centre collects the lowest volume of waste and recyclables compared to the other eight centres we run, it receives the least amount of visits and it needs substantial investment to make sure it continues to comply with safety regulations if it is to remain open.

"Most users visit the site infrequently and just 13% of visits are from vehicles which have been registered to use the site.

"As users must live in Derbyshire to register, this suggests a significant proportion of users could be travelling to the site from outside the county."

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