Hayling councillor says sorry after he wrongly assumed tip was safe from closure

A COUNCILLOR has apologised after reassuring residents the future of a tip is secure '“ when it is still at risk.

By The Newsroom

Published 18th Jan 2016, 17:19 BST

Updated 18th Jan 2016, 17:24 BST

Hayling Island Recycling Centre

Hayling Island Recycling Centre

Hampshire County Council is reviewing all of its household waste recycling centres in a bid to save £1.2m.

A major consultation begins in the next few months on which should close but in leaked papers from a council briefing, seen by The News, plans to close Hayling are on every one of the four options.Councillor Frank Pearce, who represents Hayling on Hampshire County Council, stepped in to say that in December he agreed planning permission to extend permission for Hayling’s HWRC for the next 10 years.He interpreted that to mean it was safe and admits he has told a number of residents its future is secure.In fact, it makes no impact on the council’s potential decision to close it. Cllr Pearce said: ‘I do apologise that I misled people. I assumed if planning permission was granted, the tip would continue for the next 10 years. ‘I did not get it completely right. Because of that I would like to apologise to the residents of Hayling Island. ‘But I feel fairly confident that it won’t close. It is a 12-mile round trip to the nearest tip for a Hayling Islander.’In a statement, Councillor Sean Woodward, in charge of environment at the county council, said the planning permission was nothing to do with the review and consultation, which will take place in the coming months. He added: ‘Once we have looked at all the evidence and taken people’s views on the various scenarios into consideration, we will then finalise proposals on how the savings can be made. This whole process will take some months. We want to give people time to let us know what they think, and we then need to analyse all the information very carefully. ‘So, at this point, it is not possible to give any definitive information on how any particular site will be run in the future but I can say that nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.’

Hampshire County Council