Alarm bells ring at management of recycling centre
Concerns have been raised regarding sudden closures of Shotts Recycling Centre in the days after Christmas.
Several angry residents contacted the Wishaw Press stating they had been trying to dispose of their waste from over the festive season but were unable to access the centre at various times on December 27 and 28 as it had been temporarily closed.
Shotts councillor Tommy Cochrane also received a number of complaints from people living in his council ward.
Councillor Cochrane said:“People have been turning up with cars full of rubbish only to be turned away again.
“What is the point in having such a service if people are unable to access it?
“I have been working with the council’s environmental health team over the past few months to try and reduce fly tipping in this area.
“My fear is that if people turn up at the recycling centre, see it is closed and think to themselves that they will dump it on a back road. “It’s not good enough.” A North Lanarkshire Council spokesman told the Wishaw Press that the recycling centre had been open until 11.40am on December 28 but had to be temporarily closed to allow rubbish to be cleared from recycling tips.
The spokesman added that there had been a similar problem a day earlier.
The council also tweeted: “Recycling centres are very busy at this time of year.
“Please be patient and follow advice of staff and displayed notices.”
In October, members of Shotts Community Council and local councillors Tommy Cochrane and Charlie Cefferty quizzed Harry Morgan, from the council’s waste management service, about problems at the recycling centre.
Councillor Cefferty said he had received complaints from fed-up residents about the issue.
He said:“People are concerned to go at the weekend because they can’t dispose their waste.
“We want to stop fly tipping as it costs money.”
The council have provision for waste disposal and recycling at seven centres across the area, including Shotts and Netherton.
In December, a furious woman branded the council‘hypocrites’after being told to dump her recycling items with the general waste.
Louise Cunningham, 23, travelled to Shotts Recycling Centre to dispose of cardboard she had gathered up at home but was shocked when she was told by an employee they couldn’t recycle it because the local authority hadn’t emptied the jam-packed skip.