Councillor calls for progress on deal to use Plas Madoc tip

* The household waste recycling facility at Plas Madoc.

A Llangollen town councillor has called on his county council counterparts to “get a move on” with securing a deal with Wrexham for local people to use the Plas Madoc household waste recycling centre.

With no permanent recycling local facility available for Dee Valley residents, Phil Jones has been running a campaign, backed by an 800-signature petition, for them to be able to use Plas Madoc which at the moment is exclusively for residents of neighbouring Wrexham.

The issue stems from dissatisfaction with the pop-up waste disposal service which had been run on Saturday mornings in the Pavilion car park. When this was suspended as the pandemic began Llangollen people faced a drive over to Ruthin to use the facility there.

The progress in negotiating a possible deal with Wrexham for use of Plas Madoc is due to be discussed by Llangollen’s two Denbighshire county councillors, Graham Timms and Melvyn Mile, along with county officers, at a meeting on May 17.

Meanwhile, town councillor Stuart Davies, who has spoken in favour of a deal on a number of occasions, has issued a fresh statement on it.

He says: “I note with concern the long drawn out process of attempting to regularise the use of Plas Madoc recycling centre by Llangollen residents. 

“I am calling upon the county councillors to get a move on and get this process finished. At the moment all we are getting are words from them. 

“My FoI [Freedom of Information] request has revealed that the pop-up facility is costing us £50k-plus a year plus the cost of getting rid of the waste collected. 

“The option of paying WBC (Wrexham Borough Council) £100k a year - a figure that re-appears now and again - is almost cost neutral and compares better than the figures for the rest of the county as revealed in the FoI. 

“It is about time our elected representatives did their job and pressured the officers in to doing the right thing. We have the figures now we know how much it costs. 

“It’s time to do the right thing and provide us with equal services in the south of the county as the north.” 

In response, County Councillor Graham Timms commented:  "This important issue will be discussed with all four Dee Valley councillors and Denbighshire County Council officers on May 17."