The household waste recycling centre in Coleford is again under threat from closure.
Residents in Coleford and surrounding villages have until February to comment on the closure.
Five of Somerset's busiest recycling centres, including Frome, could have extended opening throughout the week but two tips at Coleford and Middlezoy have been proposed for closure.
The plan, proposed by Somerset Waste Partnership's governing board, is part of efforts to make savings by Somerset County Council.
Under the county council's medium-term financial plan, Somerset Waste Partnership will have £711,900 less funding in 2014/15, and a total of £2,287,900 less over the next four years.
The threatened closure at Coleford will be open for public comment and considered by the county council and all five district councils before a final decision by the Somerset Waste Board on February 21.
It will particularly affect Coleford, Holcombe, Vobster, Mells, Stoke St Michael, Stratton on the Fosse, Oakhill and Faulkland. The nearest tips will be in Frome or Dulcote, more than eight miles away. The centre at Midsomer Norton operates a registration system.
If the plan is agreed by the 12-strong board, Coleford will be closed from April 1 next year.
Three years ago, Coleford was threatened with closure which led to a public protest by families living within a five-mile radius of the centre. A petition was signed by 2,200 people and protests were made by local district and county councillors.
In 2011, Coleford was among the four smaller, less used sites re-designated as community recycling sites with a £2 entry fee and further charges for tyres, gas bottles and soil.
According to the partnership, since the charges were introduced visitor numbers have declined and the closure of Coleford and Middlezoy's sites, if approved, would affect about 850 visitors to each of the sites every month, as together they now account for less than two per cent of all recycling site visits.
Somerset Waste Partnership managing director Steve Read said: "These are not easy decisions but SWP has to live within the budget its partners contribute, and users of Coleford and Middlezoy would have a choice of alternatives within a few miles.
Anyone who wishes to comment on the proposed closures, should write to Somerset Waste Partnership, Monmouth House, Blackbrook Park Avenue, Taunton TA1 2PX, or to county councillors Philip Ham, Newbury Farm, Newbury, near Mells, BA11 3RG or Harvey Siggs, 75 Welsford Avenue, Wells BA5 2HZ.
Read more: http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/Threat-closure-falls-recycling-centre/story-20341614-detail/story.html#ixzz2o2QketsN
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