14/11/2013 - Permalink

Further round of consultation into future of Ludlow’s amenity skip and recycling centre

Related topics: Community

A second round of consultation is being carried out into proposals to close the Coder Road amenity skip and recycling centre in Ludlow.

Shropshire Council has been reviewing the operation of its recycling centres to identify ways to increase recycling, reduce the amount of the waste that goes to landfill, and make financial savings.

The review recommends that the Coder Road amenity skip site should close and that alternatives for its future use should be considered. A final decision on the site’s future is due to be made in January 2014 by Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for waste management.

An initial public consultation on alternative future uses of the site was held between 20 September and 21 October 2013, and attracted 74 responses.

Having considered these responses, Shropshire Council officers feel that the recommendation to close the site is the most appropriate one.

A second phase of consultation is being held from Tuesday 12 November to Tuesday 24 December 2013 to provide further additional information about the proposed closure, and to give people more time to suggest alternatives that also meet the outcomes the council is looking to achieve.

The consultation – and a supporting briefing note giving detailed additional information – can be found online at by clicking here.

Larry Wolfe, Shropshire Council’s head of waste management, said:

“We’d like to thank everyone who submitted responses during the first phase of consultation into the future of the Coder Road amenity skip site. Having considered these responses, and reviewed the information presented in our initial business case, we feel the most reasonable course of action is to recommend closure of the site.

“To ensure that the decision-making process is fully informed we are carrying out a second phase of consultation, to obtain further suggestions and information that will help clarify the council’s position on this matter.”

A final decision about the future of the Coder Road site is due to be made by Councillor Charmley in the week beginning 20 January 2014.

Additional information

(1) Shropshire Council’s review of its recycling centres recommended that the Coder Road amenity skip site should close and alternatives for its future use be considered, as:

  • The recycling rate at Coder Road in the year 2012/13 was less than 30% – compared to an average of 60% at the county’s five other household recycling centres (HRCs).
  • The Coder Road site is visited just 25,000 times per year, compared to a total of 750,000 visits per year for Shropshire’s five other HRCs.
  • It would cost Shropshire Council £600,000 to bring the Coder Road site up to the standard of the county’s five other HRCs, but this would only see a 0.2% increase in Shropshire’s recycling rate.
  • Closure of the site would save Shropshire Council £100,000 a year.
  • With five modern household recycling centres (HRCs) serving the county – one in each of Shropshire’s former districts – this more than satisfies Shropshire Council’s statutory requirements of providing just one site at which people can deposit their waste for disposal and recycling.
  • The Ludlow area is well served with recycling facilities and nearby HRCs, with travelling distances to the nearest household recycling centre (HRC) no greater than from other market towns that don’t have an HRC.

(2) The questions Shropshire Council is asking in this second round of consultation are:

Q1. Having considered all of the information… the council believes that closing the Coder Road amenity skip site facility as opposed to trying to keep it open is the better option in order to assist the Council in meeting its financial challenges and deliver best practice from nearby modern facilities.  Do you agree?

Q2. Please indicate if there are other alternatives the council should consider for the future waste service use of the site which would assist the council in meeting its required outcomes in reducing costs, improving use of modern recycling facilities and, preventing waste.