ROMSEY Town Council has joined the voices objecting to plans to close Casbrook tip.
As previously reported, the Hampshire County Council has proposed to close smaller tips across the county to bridge a £132m shortfall.
This includes the Casbrook Household Waste Recycling Centre, in Bunny Lane, Timsbury, which has been listed as one of the tier three locations as a smaller site that is “operationally challenging” and where investment would be needed to stay open.
READ MORE: Romsey residents say closing Casbrook tip would be 'disastrous'
The proposal has already come under fire from Romsey residents, but the town council has now submitted a formal objection to the plans following a full council meeting on Tuesday, March 19.
The town council says that Casbrook is vital to the area, as it serves Romsey, Ampfield, Awbridge, Braishfield, Mottisfont and Wellow. It also raised concerns about an increase in fly-tipping, CO2 emissions and bonfires.
The objection reads: “Local Authority areas with a considerable area of rural countryside are a target for fly-tipping. Test Valley is no exception having successfully won prosecutions against offenders from urban areas like Southampton. Successful prosecutions are unfortunately miniscule when compared to the total incidents of fly-tipping.
“The closure of Casbrook will exacerbate the scourge of fly-tipping in Southern Test Valley.
“With increased travel to and from alternative sites, the report does not seem to include details of any increases in CO2 emissions due to an increase in transportation.
"As you know, transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gas emissions.
"We, therefore, assume you conducted an audit on carbon emissions from the extra miles that will be incurred by residents travelling further to the alternative sites.
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“The Eastleigh site is notoriously known as a very busy site which leads to traffic congestion. As there will be an increase in traffic on the roads to and from alternative sites, and with the state and condition of the roads in Hampshire, this will add further pressure to highways maintenance.”
The town council also expressed its hope that staff at Casbrook Tip would be retained by Hampshire County Council, with the objection stating: “In the event of closure, we hope they will be redeployed. Judging from site staff comments, there however appears to be no justification for closing this well-used site.”
If Casbrook closed the nearest waste and recycling centres for Romsey residents would be Winchester or Eastleigh.
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