MP calls on cabinet to join with him and vote to save recycling centres next week
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has publicly called on Eddie Martin and his fellow Cumbria County Council cabinet colleagues to join with him and agree to save all of Cumbria's recycling centres next week.
The issue of future of household recycling centres is to be decided at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday 15th March. In advance of the meeting Tim is calling on the cabinet to listen to the recommendation of a task group set up by the council, which has recommended that: "Cabinet takes an approach to achieving the savings by retaining all the HWRC sites in Cumbria and not permanently closing any."
Cumbria County Council, run by a Conservative-Labour alliance, launched a consultation a couple of months ago to close six household waste recycling centres across the county, including those at Millom, Ambleside, Kirkby Stephen and Grange-over-Sands at the start of the year.
The plans have faced a barrage of criticism from local residents, who believe that it will lead to an increase in fly tipping. Senior Conservatives have now come out and said that they were: "99 per cent confident that it will be possible to keep all the sites open".
Tim and the local Lib Dem team have publicly thanked local parish councils like Kirkby Stephen Town Council, Lakes Parish Council and Libby Bateman and the Upper Eden Community Plan group for their support and help in saving the recycling centres
The task group has also recommended that: "Cabinet ask the Group Leaders to remind all elected members that, in order not to undermine the Council's established processes, wherever a consultation is taking place, elected members should be mindful that their comments could be perceived by the public as pre-empting the outcome of a consultation or the decision-making process."
Tim said: "Now it the time for the County Council to practice what they preach - they like to call themselves a listening council. Now the council need to listen to local people and save the recycling centres. The public opposition to these plans has been massive and I want to thank everyone who has supported the campaign and made sure the Council have to think again. I'm delighted that together we have been able to save the Grange, Ambleside and Kirkby Stephen recycling centres. I also want to thank councillors like Heidi Halliday, David Earnshaw, Vivienne Rees and Peter Thornton for their support and campaigning zeal. They are true community champions."