Wiltshire Council issued a press release on Friday afternoon (May 29) announcing the cuts to the opening of its household recycling centres.
All Wiltshire’s eleven recycling centres – operated by Hills Waste Solutions on behalf of Wiltshire Council – will be closed on two days every week. They will all be open on Saturday, Sundays and Mondays – which the Council say are the busiest days at the centres, and two other days.
They will open from 10.00am to 4.00pm each day they are open – cutting an hour off current opening times.
Marlborough’s recycling centre will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The nearest centre to Marlborough is at Everleigh – this will be closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The new opening days and times will start on Monday, July 13.
These cuts are blamed on the reduction in the central government grant to Wiltshire Council.
In a statement to Marlborough News Online, Hills Waste Solutions explained the process leading up to today’s announcement: “Following the council’s decision earlier this year to review the household recycling centres’ (HRC) operating hours, Hills Waste Solutions entered into a period of consultation with HRC employees affected by the changes.”
“Hills worked closely with employees to mitigate the impact of the reduction to working hours. HRC employees were offered additional hours at alternative sites and recruitment for HRC posts was restricted during the consultation process. As a result, no redundancies were necessary.”
Mike Webster, the group director of Hills Waste Solutions said: “We will continue to deliver the same high quality service at HRCs as we have done in the past and these reduced hours will not compromise our standards of operation.”
The announcement follows the Council’s already announced decision to introduce a £40 a year charge for the collection of garden waste.
As one regular user of the Marlborough centre told us: “This is by any standards a cut in services – what’s more it’s bad news to slip out on a Friday afternoon.”
