The HWRC is well used by residents. The alternative suggested by
LCC is some two miles away, along a very busy road. According to
the consultation document the Altham site, at times, has difficulty
coping with the current volume of traffic - blocking off the site
to commercial traffic already happens.
If the current 3350 tons was to be transported to Altham in
residents cars it would need 67,000 RETURN journeys with an average
load of 50Kg per car: fuel costs to residents would be an
additional £234,500 at 50p per mile: congestion and air
pollution in Clayton le Moors would receive a significant
boost.
We, along with many other areas of Lancashire, suffer from anti
social fly tipping - this could get worse if the Great Harwood HWRC
site is closed.
The consultations author seems not to have taken into account the
recent increased in usage of the site by residents of Mellor,
Ramsgreave, Langho, Whalley, Sabden, Read and Simonstone etc. When
the Langho and Padiham sites were closed last year those residents
were told by LCC that they would be able to use the Great Harwood
centre. Not for long it seems!
The Great Harwood Waste Recycling Centre should be not be closed
– the amount of money saved by its closure can only be
marginal to the savings required by LCC – the negative
effects of closure far outweigh any cost savings.
** Please either sign this online petition or the paper petition,
but not both. This is to satisfy the LCC rules regarding
ePetitions.**
Thank you for taking the trouble to help save our
skips!!"
This ePetition ran from 22/08/2011 to 16/09/2011 and has now finished.
1340 people signed this ePetition.
It is accepted that any Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) closure will have an impact on the immediate community it serves. However, Lancashire will still have a very robust and efficient HWRC network with at least one HWRC in each district. The network facilitates 97% of households in the County being within 6 miles of a HWRC.
There is no estimate of possible increase in fly tipping nor for the cost of dealing with the same as there is no evidence to suggest that fly tipping will result from the closure of any HWRC. Environment Agency statistics show that more than 70% of fly tipping in the UK is carried out by businesses which do not wish to pay for their waste disposal. The HWRCs do not accept waste from businesses and in this respect therefore there should be little change. There will still be HWRC facilities in each district in Lancashire despite the 4 closures and, whilst some residents may have to travel a little further to access them, it is anticipated that residents will still recycle their rubbish responsibly and lawfully by using the alternative facilities available.
Lancashire County Council understands the concerns expressed with regards to the proposed closure of Great Harwood Household Waste Centre. We would stress that no decision has yet been taken to close this facility and we are currently out to consultation on the recommendation that this HWRC, along with four other facilities, should close in order to achieve required budget savings.
The details of this petition will be added to the consultation process and given due consideration before any final decision is made.