Tip will stay open - but changes could be on cards for collections

CHELTENHAM borough council has decided to keep its tip for householders open after most people responding to a public consultation process said it should.

Just before Christmas, the authority floated the idea of closing the centre in Swindon Road, where people can drop off various kinds of items to be recycled as well as rubbish that goes to landfill.

The suggestion was included in a survey that asked people many questions about Cheltenham’s waste and recycling collections.

It saw the recycling centre receive a huge amount of support.

Ninety per cent of respondents said they wanted it to stay open.

In its announcement, the council said it was “pleased” to say that the centre would remain open.

But it seems another potentially controversial idea could yet become reality.

That is to empty people’s general rubbish bins every three weeks, rather than every two weeks.

The idea split those taking part in the survey, with 52 per cent backing it if recycling was collected more often.

The council said it would “keep listening to residents’ views” about the concept.

If it happens, it will go alongside an increase in recycling, with the council saying it will look into whether it could collect recycling from people’s homes every week, rather than every fortnight.

Councillor Chris Coleman (LD, St Mark’s), cabinet member for clean and green environment, said: “Now the public have told us they are keen to see weekly recycling introduced, we will see if we can make this happen.

“We have just taken delivery of a new recycling vehicle so this is a really good time to see if we can introduce weekly recycling within our fleet of 13 vehicles.

“During the course of the year we will be consulting further with the public and I would urge everyone to have their say. We will be looking at ways to engage as many residents as possible.’’

More than 4,290 people took part in the survey, which ran from December 19 to January 6.

Nearly 70 per cent of residents said that they were either very satisfied or satisfied with their waste and recycling collections. Of those, 97 per cent said they made an effort to recycle.

Council bosses said the current kerbside scheme saw a big increase in recycling locally since its redesign in October 2017. They said it amounted to about an extra 1,600 tonnes of recycling in 2018/19.