Llangollen people's use of Plas Madoc tip delayed by industrial action

* Plas Madoc Recycling Centre.

Llangollen people are going to have to wait a bit longer before they can use the Plas Madoc recycling centre.

Last month llanblogger revealed that Denbighshire County Council had negotiated a deal with neighbouring Wrexham which runs it enabling locals to use the tip rather than having to take a 32-mile round trip to Ruthin or use the pop-up facility being offered for the past few years at the Pavilion car park.

Official said the new arrangement could start from this month but llanblogger understands a number of people have been turned away when they have tried to leave their waste at Plas Madoc and questions have been raised on social media.

We asked Llangollen county councillor Karen Edwards for an update and she explained that the delay had been caused by industrial action by refuse collection staff in Wrexham.

This is a pay dispute affecting bin collection and recycling centres, including Plas Madoc.

The action was due to end on October 13, but now workers will remain on strike until November 24 in Wrexham and 26 November in Cardiff. 

Cllr Edwards, a strong supporter of the new arrangement, said: “In terms of an update, unfortunately, last week Wrexham asked that we delay the implementation for a short period. They have received notification of further planned industrial action, which is set to take place October to late November.

“We are supporting that request and will continue to provide the pop-up service and advise you as soon as possible when the new service will be implemented.”

The breakthrough in local people being able to use Plas Madoc came after an intensive campaign led by Llangollen’s Phil Jones spearheaded by a petition of over a thousand signatures.

The agreement between Denbighshire and Wrexham will provide:

• Increased number of available booking slots 208 a month initially as opposed to current 128 available for residents of Llangollen (will be subject to constant review dependant on demand) .
• More flexibility providing booking slots every day, not just between 9 and 11am on third and fourth Saturday of each month.
• Plas Madoc HWRC is a managed site ensuring the health and safety of all its users as a controlled environment.
• Plas Madoc HWRC has the capacity to increase recycling rates, through the process of checking and removing recyclable items that have been placed in the residual waste stream.
• Initially residents will be able to take residual and green waste and we are working with Wrexham to provide additional streams once the relevant processes are in place.
• Residents who turn up with chargeable waste will be turned away as the case at Denbighshire’s own sites
• As now residents with bulky items can either take them to one of the DCC HWRC sites listed on our website or use the bulky collection service provided by the council.
• The financial costs for the new service is in line with the exiting budget for the Llangollen pop-up service whilst providing an improved service and ensuring all material is treated and recorded in accordance with legislation.