Fly-tipping fears as council announce closure of Normanton recycling centre

Wakefield Council announced this week that the tip at Normanton, off Boundary Road, will shut and that people looking to recycle waste will be forced to travel to the other existing sites, the closest being Glass Houghton, four miles away.

Glynn Humphries, service director for environment and streetscene said: “Our Normanton Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Welbeck will close in the autumn and as soon as we have a date we will let people know.

“The closure was planned as part of the long-term waste contract with our partner, Shanks.

“The planning permission for the site at Normanton expires in May next year and so the facility will need to close down to allow it to be restored.

“We now have three excellent, modern household waste recycling centres in Glass Houghton, Wakefield and South Kirkby which have been designed to handle and recycle more of our customers waste.”

But the announcement has annoyed others, including Normanton resident Carol Stocks, who uses the recycling centre regularly.

She said: “It’s one of the most used tips around here, why have they not asked out opinions? All it will do is encourage fly-tipping, it’s really bad news for the area.

“We already have a problem with fly-tipping, it will only get worse, mark my words.

“A lot of people won’t trail out to the other sites. I can’t understand why they would close this when they will have to spend thousands on clearing up fly-tipped rubbish.”