* Llangollen people will be able to use Plas Madoc household waste recycling site from next month following an agreement between Denbighshire and Wrexham councils.
llanblogger exclusive
Campaigners
for Llangollen to have a more convenient household waste facility have scored a
major breakthrough with news that local people will be able to use the Plas
Madoc tip from next month.
Ever
since the town lost its own refuse site at Wenffrwd
years ago and Wrexham banned Llangollen people from using Plas Madoc, they have
been faced with a 32-mile round trip to the nearest Denbighshire tip in Ruthin.
The alternative has been to use the temporary ‘pop-up’ recycling
facility set up for a few hours on the Pavilion car park on Saturday mornings but even this was halted
during the Covid lockdowns.
* The Saturday morning 'pop-up' recycling facility on the Pavilion car park.
Over a thousand people have signed a petition, organised by
campaigner Phil Jones, demanding that Llangollen should have a more convenient
recycling facility. And the question became a campaign issue at the last county
council election.
Now word has come from Clwyd South Senedd Member Ken Skates that Denbighshire
has negotiated a deal with Wrexham enabling Llangollen people to use Plas Madoc
from October.
The
breakthrough is revealed in a letter to Mr Skates from Simon Lammond,
Denbighshire’s Waste and Recycling
Manager, the contents of which have been shared with llanblogger by Mr Skates.
The
relevant part says: “We
have reached formal agreement with Wrexham CBC to enable Llangollen residents
to access to the HWRC (Household Waste Recycling Centre) at Plas Madoc this
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.
“We have a
further meeting with Wrexham to iron out some of the operational detail, but we
anticipate a start date for this new service in early October 2023, once
confirmed we will communicate with local Cllrs, community groups and via our
web pages. During the transition period DCC will maintain the existing pop-up
service for two months.”
Llangollen
county councillor Karen Edwards, a strong supporter of a deal with Wrexham over
Plas Madoc, said: “The establishment of a new
agreement between DCC and WCBC to facilitate access to the Plas Madoc recycling
facility for residents of the Dee Valley corrects a long-standing issue arising
from the closure of the Council’s Wenffrwdd waste facility.
“This
is a great example of collaborative working by our two councils, and it
demonstrates the advantage of sound asset management sharing public assets to
better serve our communities and drive forward our recycling objectives.
“I was elected on a manifesto committed to restoring this missing service, an
issue I have pursued for the past few years and I am delighted that it is now
reaching a conclusion.”
Phil Jones, on behalf of the tip petitioners, said: "When the council’s recycling site at Wenffrwdd closed without public consultation in 2007 no-one would have thought it would take 16 years to secure access to an alternative facility just over the County boundary at Plas Madoc. .
"Thanks to a petition of two thousand signatures and the tireless work of our County Councillor Karen Edwards this long standing injustice has been rectified."
Ken Skates MS said: “I have
raised the recycling issue numerous times with DCC on behalf of residents of
Llangollen and I am very pleased to hear of the successful conclusion of negotiations
between the two councils.”
.jpg)
