Dumping fears spark tip cutbacks protest
COUNCILLORS in Burscough fear that reduced hours at Burscough Household Waste Recycling Centre will lead to an increase in fly-tipping.
Opening times at the Abbey Lane facility were reduced to five days a week under cost-cutting measures from Lancashire County Council (LCC), meaning it now stays closed every Tuesday and Wednesday.
The changes, under which six centres around the county shut twice a week and all 15 reduce opening hours to 9am5pm, were introduced last year in an effort to save £700,000.
But local councillors have now protested against the decision and are calling for a U-turn from the county council.
Cllr Andy Pritchard, who represents Burscough West, said it was a growing concern among councillors that the reduced hours will see an increase in fly-tipping of domestic and trade waste.
He said: “This site doesn’t just cater for residents from Burscough Town but also Ormskirk, Scarisbrick and Rufford. This shortsighted strategy by LCC now sees local people travelling outside of the borough in order to use neighbouring authorities waste services, not to mention the tailbacks of queues that are now seen at Skelmersdale recycling centre.”
He added: “This is yet another example of a valuable service that the community value and rely on, which is being cut to save LCC funds that are probably not forthcoming from central government.
“The reduced opening hours at Abbey Lane is also creating a growing problem for WLBC as the increased incidents of flytipping are diverting valuable resources away from their day-to-day operations at a cost to them, while LCC don’t contribute to the issue caused indirectly by their poor decision.
“This decision, rather than promoting responsible waste recycling and consideration for our environment actually flies in the face of the modernday mantra of ‘recycle, recycle’.”
Councillors say they will continue to lobby LCC and urge all residents to make their voices heard by those at County Hall.
A spokesman for Lancashire
County Council said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal act with penalties of up to £3m and three years in prison, and something most people would never consider doing due to the impact on their neighbours and the environment.
“Most fly-tipping is carried out by unscrupulous businesses which do not want to pay for their waste to be disposed of properly, and there is no evidence to link fly-tipping to the availability of our recycling centres.
“The changes to availability of recycling centres were made following consultation with the public and other stakeholders. When the changes began, we ensured staff were available at the gates during non-operational hours to offer advice and guidance to those who were unaware of them.
“We are not aware of any complaints from district councils about increased fly-tipping in recent months.
“There is occasional queuing at a number of our sites, including Skelmersdale, when they need to be closed very briefly while the skips are changed over; however, we are not aware of queuing having become a bigger issue.”