COUNCIL officials are being urged to look again at plans to close Williton’s recycling centre - one of five facing the chop because of Somerset Council’s cash crisis.
West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said its disappearance could lead to an explosion of fly-tipping in an area where it was already a considerable problem for farmers and landowners.
The council said it had no option but to shut the Williton centre and another in Dulverton as part of sweeping economy measures it was being forced to introduce.
But Mr Liddell-Grainger said unless the authority expanded its kerbside recycling collections the outcome could be disastrous.
He said: “That centre services not only Williton and Watchet but a huge surrounding area.
“But while councillors say people can simply use the Minehead centre it undermines the whole argument for recycling being good for the environment if, having driven 12 or so miles to take their material there, they can watch it being driven past their doors in the opposite direction on its way out of the district.
“The Williton centre is a model of how such centres should be run.
“The staff are friendly and helpful and that in itself encourages more usage.
“It is also strategically placed in an area where, thanks to huge new housing projects, the population is set to expand.
The council is trying to close a £100 milling budget gap and avoid a section 114 notice, effectively a ‘bankruptcy’.