Two of Ilkley's district councillors and the lead petitioner of the 'Save Ilkley Tip' petition have met representatives of a waste management company to discuss the future of Golden Butts Road HWRC, following Bradford Council's decision to close the site at the end of March.
Councillor Andrew Loy (Conservative, Ilkley), Councillor David Nunns (Conservative, Ilkley) and Joanne Sugden visited H W Martin's recycling facility in Leeds to discuss potential alternative operating models.
The trio issued the following statement: "Clearly time is short and Ilkley Tip will unfortunately close on 31 March. However, we are hopeful that an alternative operating model can be put in place which would allow the site to reopen in the coming months. We believe that would be far preferable to other suggestions which have been put forward, such as mothballing the site or allowing residents to use Ellar Ghyll in Otley.
"We had a positive and productive discussion with representatives of H W Martin Waste Ltd, who run similar HWRC sites for other local authorities. We were encouraged with what we heard and believe a viable solution is within reach.
"There are some key areas of detail that need to be worked through, such as ownership or leasing of the site and the potential transfer of the environmental permit from Bradford Council, along with the financials - for example, whether this can be funded from Ilkley Town Council's precept, or operating the tip on a pay-to-use basis. All of this will take time.
"None of these issues are insurmountable and we are engaging with Bradford Council and Ilkley Town Council regarding our proposal. If they are willing, we are confident that an agreement can be reached."
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