The council, which runs seven sites through its in-house company Ansa, announced on Friday (22 September) that it is bracing for an anticipated budget deficit of £12.8 million in the 2023/24 financial year.
Cheshire East is reviewing the provision of HWRCs to “ensure that the service remains affordable in the longer term”.
On Thursday (28 September), a report will go before the council’s environment and communities committee outlining three options, which will be consulted on in “early 2024”.
These options are:
- Reducing HWRCs to six: This option would involve the closure of the Poynton site, which currently sees the lowest percentage of users. In its place, a mobile household waste collection service would be introduced
- Reducing HWRCs to four: This scenario would retain core sites in Crewe, Macclesfield, Alsager, and Knutsford, serving over 73 percent of total users. It would include necessary investments and extensions to these sites, along with the introduction of a mobile household waste collection service
- Retaining services as they are: This option calls for maintaining the status quo and investing in the existing HWRC sites
‘Financial limits’
Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East council’s environment and communities committee, said: “Work to review the provision of HWRCs in Cheshire East is needed so that we can continue to deliver a service that enables residents to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly and is also within the limits of what is possible financially over the coming years.
“All our HWRCs are in need of investment to ensure that they are well-equipped and up to modern standards, particularly to improve the general customer experience, the facilities for staff, and the security of the sites. This investment is in addition to significant annual running costs of the sites, which continue to rise.
Balance
Pending approval from the committee, the council will also proceed with a procurement exercise to secure a new contract for the management of HWRCs, commencing in January 2025. This contract will align with the options to be presented for public consultation.
A final recommendation for the future of HWRC services is anticipated to be unveiled in a report to the environment and communities committee in the summer of the following year.
The 2023/24 budget for delivering household waste recycling centre service is £2.96m. The budget for the service is derived from the total costs of disposing of the waste deposited at each of the 7 sites, offset by “a nominal amount of income which is generated from materials which can be recycled”.
It is “recognised” that the existing seven sites require a level of investment of around £1.5-1.75m, which “subject to option chosen will still be required either in full or part”.
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