Bosses of Cheltenham’s household recycling centre in Swindon Road are staying tight-lipped about the impact its possible permanent closure might have on job losses.
The borough council plans to close the much-loved facility on January 10, saying it will give it time to consider its long term future amid a backdrop of rising running costs. The authority says it has not decided whether the site will shut for good but has admitted that it may never reopen.
Several members of staff run the centre, which is open six days a week and allows residents to deposit various kinds of household and garden waste for free.
Those jobs could be at risk if the council decides to shut it permanently. But, at the moment at least, it is not saying much about the matter.
A council spokesperson said: “The staff concerned are all employed by Ubico Ltd, not Cheltenham Borough Council, and they have all been offered suitable alternative employment. This applies to a prolonged or permanent closure.”
Ubico, which is based in Cheltenham and is owned by seven councils in Gloucestershire as well as one in West Oxfordshire, said it would not be commenting on the subject “at this time”.
Therefore it is not clear at this stage whether its Cheltenham-based workers will be willing to work in other parts of the county or whether they will leave their posts.
The responses do little to clarify the situation at a time when the proposed closure is proving controversial. Critics, including some borough councillors, say it could lead to increased fly-tipping because many people will not want to drive out to the nearest alternative facility at Wingmoor Farm, near Bishop’s Cleeve.
But the council says that changing legislation and its enhanced kerbside collections have prompted a review of its waste and recycling services in Cheltenham.
The authority says its site complies with regulations at the moment but that changes needed there include significant groundworks and a new concrete pad. Bosses say the work would cost £1million and warn that without a new permit, the Environment Agency would not allow the centre to continue to operate.