Recycling centre hours stay same after complaints

A recycling centre's opening hours will stay the same after residents complained it could cause more traffic to nearby centres.

Bath and North East Somerset Council had proposed saving £200,000 a year by reducing the hours at Bath Recycling Centre and Old Welton Recycling Centre.

Ahead of the council's annual budget, it also proposed a "small charge" for the council's discovery cards, which grant free admission to residents for some local attractions. Both measures have now been dropped.

Mark Elliott, council cabinet member for resources, said the government's "fair funding review" of local government finance meant the council would lose £12.6m over the next three years.

Elliott added the council had to spend an additional £6.4m on adults and children's social care, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council tax is proposed to increase by the maximum 4.99%, two percentage points of which will be ring-fenced for spending on adult social care.

Councillor Andy Wait told a committee meeting on 3 February he was "very pleased" the cuts to the recycling centre hours had been dropped.

The idea had sparked concern when the budget proposal was considered by the council's climate scrutiny committee, which Mr Wait chairs.

He said: "That was number one on our list of moans about the budget because we felt there was a risk that there would be a lot of extra mileage to the Keynsham site if those cuts went ahead - so thank you for listening to the panel."

The budget will go before Bath and North East Somerset Council's cabinet on 12 February, before going to a vote at the full council meeting in Bath Guildhall on 24 February.

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