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Residents in West London are calling on their council to change course on plans to close down a popular local tip with concerns that vulnerable people will be adversely impacted.
Hillingdon Council announced the closure of the West Drayton Waste and Recycling Centre on Tavistock Road on June 24, with the site set to close down on December 21, 2026 - two years earlier than anticipated. This has led residents to question whether the right steps were taken in coming to that decision, with concerns about whether this is a stealth way to encourage people to sign up to the council’s annual £77 garden waste collection service.
Arabella Stanley and Marie Green are two local residents who frequent the tip regularly. They told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that they feel Hillingdon Council is not being transparent.
The Conservative-led Hillingdon Council announced plans for a new Pop-Up Waste Drop Service in June, alongside access to Space Waye Reuse and Recycling Centre, which is out of borough, in Feltham. The council’s initiative is slated to operate on a fortnightly basis, alternating between specific borough hotspots - including a minimum of six events for Yiewsley and West Drayton over the coming twelve months.
At the time, the council said: “Once again, the council has demonstrated its ability to enhance services while reducing costs, with the changes saving Hillingdon taxpayers more than £300,000. The move forms part of the council’s ongoing commitment to delivering better services for less through a more efficient and modern approach to service delivery, while providing an enhanced offer that better meets residents’ needs.”
Arabella told the LDRS that the council are describing it as an "enhancement" as to avoid a public consultation, which she says would have found residents are firmly against the plans. She added: “You can only take five items per house to the pop up, it doesn’t take all rubbish, like dry recycling, business waste or garden waste - they do here…
“The council did not consult residents on the closure, and I think that is really unfortunate. They just said we are closing the site and you’ve got the pop up.”
Hillingdon Council says that is illegal for businesses to use civic amenity sites, household or public bins for commercial waste. They must use a licensed waste carrier and keep waste transfer records. The council also offers an affordable business waste collection service.
In May, Councillor Steve Tuckwell, Leader of the Council told the LDRS that the new service would be central to tackling the scourge of fly-tipping in the borough. Marie came to a different conclusion.
She said: “There’s going to be more fly-tipping as a result. It was 15 years ago they closed the site in Hayes, and now Hayes has become a terrible place for fly-tipping.”
Hillingdon Council says the policy is “giving residents substantially expanded seven-day a week access to waste and recycling services at Space Waye Reuse and Recycling Centre through its West London Waste Alliance membership, which offers greater flexibility for residents, compared to the current weekend-only provision at Tavistock Road, at a reduced cost to taxpayers.”
The pair also questioned whether this was a stealth method to push residents into signing up for the council’s £77 per year garden waste collection service, which had less sign-ups than the council anticipated. The council told the LDRS that it is now considering the feasibility of accepting garden waste at the pop up events.
Arabella started a local campaign aiming to force the council to reverse the closure, with her petition gaining over 1,400 signatures. She feels that the council has lacked transparency and questions the timing of the announcement.
She said: "Absolutely they waited until after the elections… I’ve done a survey of 350 people locally, 70 per cent didn’t know about the closure.” Hillingdon Council says the decision “has been communicated across the council’s channels and at July’s Full Council meeting in ample time before Powerday’s final weekend in December.”
Arabella also requested information pertaining to the cost breakdown of the council’s own figures which says the closure will save taxpayers £300,000 - to which she says the council has not been forthcoming. She added: “There is no information about how they came up with [the figure], how they justify it, the environmental impact, or the equality analysis… the cost breakdown is not clear.”
Reflecting on the council’s decision, Marie said: “We just want them to be transparent, because if you aren’t going to be… what are you hiding? If there is nothing to hide there is no reason not to be transparent.
“Listen to the residents, that is who they are there to represent, instead of waiting until after the elections - this would have affected how I voted.”
Each weekend, hundreds of people visit the tip in West Drayton, including those with mobility difficulties and the elderly. Arabella recounted an interaction she had with an elderly woman who was widowed, and clearing out her home - she says the woman travelled on two buses just to get to the site.
She added: “There is an older population, people with no cars who can’t use the Harefield site. The Feltham site being spoken about, you can’t arrive there on foot, you have to book ahead, you have to email, the elderly may not use email.”
The West Drayton site also has a shop which takes items from the dump which people may wish to buy and donates the proceeds to the Harlington Hospice. Arabella said “This is much more about the community… there is a sense of community here that you don’t get in Harefield (an alternative site).”
Marie told the LDRS on one of her weekly visits to the site, she met a mother who had immigrated to the UK with nothing. She says she was able to furnish her whole flat for less than £300 with items from the site - something which would've cost her thousands on the high street.
Hillingdon Council said: "The council gave notice to Powerday in June in line with its contractual responsibilities. The Tavistock Road site is privately owned, which the council pays to use, and represents a limited and costly provision when compared to alternative waste disposal options.
“Instead, the council is now giving residents substantially expanded seven-day a week access to waste and recycling services at Space Waye Reuse and Recycling Centre through its West London Waste Alliance membership, which offers greater flexibility for residents, compared to the current weekend-only provision at Tavistock Road, at a reduced cost to taxpayers.
"This is about serving all residents fairly, and for some parts of the borough, particularly Hayes and Heathrow Villages, it's also geographically closer than West Drayton. The council has also made its free Pop-Up Waste Drop service permanent, with this rotating across targeted, accessible locations throughout the borough on a fortnightly basis, including Yiewsley and West Drayton.
“This decision, which has been communicated across the council’s channels and at July’s Full Council meeting in ample time before Powerday’s final weekend in December, forms part of the council’s ongoing commitment to delivering better services through a more efficient and modern approach to service delivery.
"Residents can also continue to use the council's comprehensive waste and recycling provision, which includes weekly waste and recycling (dry mixed and food waste) collections, bookable textile and bulky waste collections, a garden waste subscription service, small electrical recycling bins in libraries and household battery recycling across 20 council sites.
"To further improve the offer for residents, the council is currently exploring the feasibility of accepting garden waste at Pop-Up Waste Drop events and assessing the use of other civic amenity sites."
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