Tip closure sparks litter and safety fears
A MACCLESFIELD councillor says closing the tip in neighbouring Congleton will have implications for road safety and litter in her ward.
Lesley Smetham, member for Gawsworth, has spoken out after Cheshire East Council’s cabinet approved proposals to close the household waste recycling centre, on Off Barn Road.
It means the site will not be replaced when it shuts in September.
In response Coun Smetham says there will now be more car journeys on the A536 from Congleton to use facilities in Macclesfield.
And this will increase the risk of travelling on a road that has already seen five fatal accidents and another 22 incidents that have caused serious injury from 2011 to 2020.
She also says there will be a rise in fly-tipping, above the recorded 2,746 incidents in Cheshire East in 2019-20, as well as more litter.
Coun Smetham said: “Issues on the roads resulting from the closure will increase dramatically when the residents of Congleton have to travel to use our tip.
“It is shocking to think about what is bound to happen in September when people start travelling from Congleton to Macclesfield. Every single town should have access to somewhere for their rubbish.”
Coun Smetham added she litter picks around the roads of her ward and the busy ones are full of rubbish 24 hours later. She said: “It’s distressing. Would they still think shutting any tip in Cheshire East is the right thing to do after seeing that.”
A council report stated it would cost in the region of £4 million to replace the Congleton site – which would have to be financed by borrowing at an annual cost of ‘at least £250,000 over 25 years’.
The council’s lease at the current site runs out in September and Coun Laura Crane, portfolio holder for waste, said the failure is from previous administrations that had not dealt with this.
She said: “I don’t believe that even one member of cabinet would have chosen to be in the position we are with the lease ending ahead of the full review about household waste recycling contracts.
“Officers did make repeated attempts to buy the land or to extend the lease but they were unable to do so.”